Uptick continues: Delhi adds 607 Covid cases

For the current uptick in cases, city doctors blame weddings and other large social gatherings.

The number of new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases reported daily has jumped by nearly 200 in the last two days, with Delhi adding 607 infections on Thursday — the most since January 6, as the Capital’s Covid-19 graph continued to climb, amid a sharp nationwide rise increase in cases, with experts imploring residents to maintain precautions and get vaccinated if eligible.

Delhi currently has 5,711 beds earmarked for the treatment of Covid-19 across city hospitals (PTI Photo) (PTI)

The test positivity rate on the day increased to 0.76%, also the highest since January 6.

Delhi also added one more death of the infection in Thursday’s bulletin. Although the number of deaths have remained stable – an average of 2.1 deaths a day in March – the number of active cases and hospitalisations have increased.

The number of active cases inched closer to the 3,000 mark, with over 1,500 people in home isolation as on Wednesday night, the highest since early January. The number of hospitalisations increased to 794, as compared to 579 recorded a week ago, shows government data.

Delhi currently has 5,711 beds earmarked for the treatment of Covid-19 across city hospitals, down from over 18,000 reserved beds during the third wave of cases in November, when the city recorded an average of 6,122 new infections every single day.

For the current uptick in cases, city doctors blame weddings and other large social gatherings.

“There was euphoria when the number of infections in the city went down, as any viral infection does naturally. With over 50% of the population exposed to the infection, the transmission slowed down. But, people gathering for events such as weddings led to an increase. This is exactly what happened after Dussehra and Diwali,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head of the department of pulmonary medicine at All India Institute of Medical Sciences and chairman of PSRI Institute of Pulmonary and Critical care.

He said he has is aware of super-spreader events, where between 30 and 40 people in a wedding party contracted the infection.

“We now know that the infection spreads through droplets and aerosols. So, whenever people pull down their mask at such events, the risk of contracting the virus is very high,” he said.

Dr Rommel Tickoo, director of internal medicine at Max healthcare also said, “Festivals and wedding are a hotbed for infections as people tend to forget to take precautions. I know of instances where 40 to 50 people in a wedding got the infection.”

State health minister Satyendar Jain, however, sought to calm fears, and said the positivity rate in the city has been below 1% for two months.

“The situation in Delhi is well within control as compared to other states. But I will still emphasise that people continue to remain cautious of the coronavirus,” said Jain