As Delhi adds 299 cases, govt says may sequence all fresh infections

At the same time, however, the state health department is likely conduct genome checks on samples from all fresh Covid-19 cases, in a bid to ascertain if there is any pattern to the rise in cases, and if the XE variant of the coronavirus has made its way to Delhi.

Delhi added 299 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, a 48% jump over the 202 infections the previous day, even as experts and state officials sought to assuage concerns of a spike, saying the uptick was expected since all Covid-19 restrictions in the Capital have been set aside.

A motorist passes by a mural of frontline workers against coronavirus at RK Puram in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna / HT Photo)

At the same time, however, the state health department is likely conduct genome checks on samples from all fresh Covid-19 cases, in a bid to ascertain if there is any pattern to the rise in cases, and if the XE variant of the coronavirus has made its way to Delhi.

To be sure, Delhi has so far recorded no infections of XE (a sub-variant of the Omicron variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19), and there have been just two infections of the sub-variant across in India. Health experts have also said XE does not merit severe concern since it shares a spike protein and several other key structural characteristics with the BA.2 lineage of the Omicron variant that has already spread widely across the country. Experts have also stressed that there is no indication that XE is more dangerous than other variants of the coronavirus.

Delhi Covid-19 cases are on a rise again.

The new infections on Wednesday came on the back of just over 12,000 tests, with 2.49% of the collected samples returning positive results. To be sure, experts have attributed the climb in the positivity rate (which has been above 1% for 10 days now) to lower but more focussed testing among symptomatic patients in Delhi.

Delhi conducted 10,159 cases each day over the past week. In the same period this March, the city conducted an average of 37,289 tests each day.

There are few testing mandates in place in the Capital, automatically capping the number of tests carried out on a daily basis. Airports, for instance, no longer require a negative test result for entry, instead asking for a confirmation of double vaccination.

Wednesday’s case spike was the highest since March 4 this year, when Delhi added 302 infections. The positivity rate was, however, higher on Monday, when 2.7% of all collected samples returned positive results.

Dr Sanjay Rai, professor at the Centre for Community Medicine, said such fluctuations in daily cases are normal.

“Such fluctuations are normal in case of an RNA virus. There is no need to panic. Delhi had a high rate of infections, which provides the best protection against the virus and we also have high vaccination rate,” he said.

Delhi government officials said that even though the city is currently experiencing a minor rise in cases, most patients are reporting “mild, to very mild” infections.

Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director at Lok Nayak Hospital (Delhi’s largest Covid-19) hospital also confirmed that the Covid-19 patients admitted to the facility are not in a serious condition.

Meanwhile, a senior official of with Delhi’s health department said they soon start sending all samples of Covid-positive patients for genome sequencing to ensure the sub-variant is detected in the event it arrives in the city.

The official added that the government stopped sequencing all samples in January after Omicron’s BA.2 sublineage stayed the dominant strain in Delhi for a consistent period.

“Once have established a dominant strain, which comprised over 90% of the cases in the city, we did not need to sequence all the samples. But now that the new XE variant is being reported in other states, we will need to send all samples for genome sequencing to ascertain if we have detected the variant here in Delhi,” the official said.