Delhi adds 5,506 Covid-19 cases, 20 more deaths

The seven-day rolling average of infections also crossed the 4,000 mark, which is for the first time since December 4 last year, indicating the return of the city’s Covid graph to levels not seen since the third wave that lasted from October to December in 2020.

The fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to surge in Delhi, with cases hitting a fresh high for the year on Wednesday after 5,506 new infections were recorded.

Delhi’s fourth wave has seen infections rise sharply, with the number of cases increasing from less than 1,000 to over 5,000 within 16 days, showed Delhi government data. (Reuters Photo)

The seven-day rolling average of infections also crossed the 4,000 mark, which is for the first time since December 4 last year, indicating the return of the city’s Covid graph to levels not seen since the third wave that lasted from October to December in 2020.

With a little over 90,000 tests, the city’s positivity rate — proportion of samples that return positive among the total samples tested — also shot up to 6.1%, on Wednesday, the highest since December 1.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a test positivity rate below 5% for a two-week period for an infection to be considered under control in an area. Delhi crossed this threshold on Monday for the first time in 124 days. The positivity rate dropped just below 5% on Tuesday, on the back of a record 103,453 new tests.

Delhi’s fourth wave has seen infections rise sharply, with the number of cases increasing from less than 1,000 to over 5,000 within 16 days, showed Delhi government data.

“Delhi, where there were less than 200 cases for two to three months, has crossed the 5,000 mark within three weeks. The infection has been around for a year and we know that the best way to protect oneself is to wear a mask and maintain social distance. I urge people to follow these precautions,” said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.

Delhi also added 20 more deaths of Covid-19 to its toll, taking the overall fatality count to 11,133 on Wednesday.

More than 15 people died of the infection on average daily over the last seven days. In comparison, 7.7 deaths were recorded on average daily the week before and 3.5 deaths the week before that.

“The increase in the number of deaths always follows the curve of the infection. The severity of the infection is at the peak between the eighth and 12th day, so if the incidence is high today, the impact on deaths will be seen 10 days later,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head of the department of pulmonology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

He added that mortalities have been fewer this year because people are more aware and reach hospitals on time. Health care facilities also have clinical protocols in place for appropriate treatment.

The number of people hospitalised has been increasing sharply too along with the number of cases.

Almost 3,000 beds have been added over the last one week; the occupancy has hovered at around 46% however.

“The bed situation is getting worse by the day. Everything is gradually filling up as the number of cases goes up. Hospitals are again moving from non-Covid to Covid services,” said Dr Anant Mohan, head of the pulmonology department at AIIMS.

The number of people in home isolation crossed the 10,000 mark on Wednesday. There are over 19,400 people living with the infection currently in Delhi.