Delhi on Wednesday reported 10,665 new coronavirus cases, almost double the number of infections logged the day before, with the positivity rate shooting up to 11.88 per cent, according to health department data. The number of new cases is the highest since May 12, when 13,287 people were diagnosed with the disease.
The positivity rate is the highest since May 14 last year, when it stood at 12.40 per cent. The number of active cases increased to 23,307 from 14,889 on Tuesday. A total of 2,239 patients were discharged in a day, the health bulletin said.
With the 10,665 fresh cases, Delhi’s infection tally climbed to 14,74,366. Of this, over 14.25 lakh patients have recovered from the disease, the bulletin said. The death toll stands at 25,121, it said.
The city has reported 14 deaths so far this month. Nine deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in December last year, seven in November, four in October and five in September, according to official data. According to the health bulletin, 89,742 tests, including 72,145 RT-PCR ones, were conducted in Delhi on Tuesday. Till now, the government had been conducting around 65,000 tests in a day on an average.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had last month said the city government is prepared to conduct 3 lakh tests a day if the need arises. Even though the Delhi government has repeatedly stressed that most cases this time would be mild or asymptomatic and not require hospitalisation, data shows an uptick in the number of Covid patients in hospitals and those requiring oxygen and ventilator support.
According to the data, the number of Covid patients in city hospitals increased by 107 per cent in just two days — from 342 on Monday to 708 on Wednesday. There are 22 severe patients in hospitals compared to seven on Monday and 14 on Tuesday. At present, 551 patients are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and do not require oxygen, the data stated.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the third wave of the pandemic has hit the capital. The minister had earlier said Omicron is the dominant variant circulating in the community now.
The Delhi government on Tuesday announced a weekend curfew and work from home for its offices. During the weekend curfew, which will come into force at 10 pm on Friday and will be in place till 5 am on Monday, all essential services will be allowed in the national capital. Along with the weekend curfew, night curfew will also continue to be in place during weekdays.
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