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141 more lives lost to Covid-19: Toll hits peak as new cases near 20,000
Delhi has added the last 100,000 cases in eight days. In comparison, the previous 100,000 cases were registered over 120 days.
On Friday, 141 people died of the coronavirus disease in the national capital, the most fatalities in one day in the city so far.
The fourth wave of the infection that has stormed the Capital over the past few weeks has been the most devastating so far, with infections and deaths soaring to levels not seen at any stage since the outbreak of the pandemic. Before Friday’s fatalities hit a record, the most deaths logged in a day were on November 18, when the infection claimed 131 lives.
Cases, meanwhile, have increased at an alarming rate in the Capital. Delhi hit another one-day infection record on Friday, with the city adding 19,486 cases, and the infection tally crossing the 800,000 mark.
Delhi has added the last 100,000 cases in eight days. In comparison, the previous 100,000 cases were registered over 120 days.
“The absolute number of deaths is expected to go up further, with cases continuing to rise. The curve of deaths usually follows that of the number of cases by five to 10 days. The proportion of deaths might also go up as the health care system gets stretched thin with the sheer number of cases – people might not reach hospital on time, might not get a bed in time, and might not receive required treatment in time,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital.
“When the numbers of cases and deaths were low in January and February, the case fatality rate (proportion of deaths among those who test positive) reduced to less than 0.5%. It may go up again now, but I believe it will still likely stay between 1% and 1.5%,” said Dr Kishore.
The city’s cumulative case fatality rate currently stands at 1.47%.
The positivity rate – proportion of samples that test positive – dipped marginally to 19.69% from the previous day’s 20.22% with the number of tests increasing to 98,957 from Thursday’s 82,569.
The test positivity rate is far higher than the World Health Organization’s recommendation of below 5%.
Delhi’s positivity rate was below 1% for 82 days, till it crossed that mark on March 20.
The surge in cases in Delhi has consequently led to an increase in the number of hospitalisations, with over 12,000 beds occupied for the first time in the city. Patients have been forced to run from pillar to post in search of beds.
Meanwhile, ministers and state government officials held review meetings throughout the day. Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain visited Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital and Rajiv Gandhi hospital on Friday to review the management of cases.
“Met with the patients, doctors & staff. Reviewed the hospital’s management system. In these hard times, Delhi Govt. is taking swift & efficient steps to defeat the Coronavirus,” Jain tweeted.
In a review meeting, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday asked state health department officials to scale up the number of oxygen beds reserved for Covid-19 patients.
The state government also ordered all government and private laboratories to be linked with each district to ensure that all Covid-19 samples get processed within the stipulated period, amid reports of testing delays in the Capital.