Delhi again reports over 3.5k new Covid cases, 10 deaths

The fewer tests conducted on Friday – reported a day later in Saturday’s bulletin – resulted in an increase in the city’s positivity rate to 4.5%.

Delhi reported over 3,500 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for the second day in a row, adding 3,567 on Saturday to take the total tally to 672,381, according to the daily health bulletin released by the Delhi government. The city also reported 10 deaths due to the infection.

Delhi Police personnel issuing fine to an individual for not wearing a face mask while out in public at Sarojini Nagar Market, in New Delhi. (Sanjeev Verma/ Hindustan Times)

The fewer tests conducted on Friday – reported a day later in Saturday’s bulletin – resulted in an increase in the city’s positivity rate to 4.5%. There were 79,617 tests reported on Saturday as against 87,505 the day before, pushing the positivity rate up from 4.11%.

The positivity rate – proportion of samples that return positive among the total tested – is an indication of the ongoing transmission in an area. Experts believe the transmission is under control if the positivity rate remains below 5%.

Click here for complete Covid-19 coverage

Delhi’s positivity rate has remained below 5% for 122 days now, but its rise has experts worried.

“This is a new wave of cases in Delhi and it is largely happening because people are not following Covid appropriate behaviour. Even with a 56% seroprevalence and many people having received the vaccine, there is still a sizeable chunk of people who are susceptible and this increase and decrease in cases will continue till there are. Also, we need to remember that this seropositivity is not uniformly distributed – it is high in slums and other densely populated areas and low in posh localities. Those who had been inside their homes for so long, started venturing out when the number of cases went down leading to the current increase,” said Dr Puneet Mishra, professor in the department of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The experts called for an increase in the pace of vaccination.

“My thinking is that what we are seeing today is the impact of deeds done two to three weeks back. Whatever you may do now will not stop the escalation tomorrow. We need to stop all unnecessary gatherings and outings and we need to vaccinate more people,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head of the department of pulmonary medicine at AIIMS.

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also agreed, urging the centre to open up the vaccination drive. “The only way to swiftly break the chain of the COVID-19 virus is to vaccinate people of all ages. Mass vaccination, and not full-lockdown, is the way to defeat this deadly virus,” said Sisodia after he and his family received the first dose of Covaxin at the Maulana Azad Medical College associated with Lok Nayak hospital.

“I request the Government of India to increase the supply of Covid-19 vaccine in Delhi and begin the vaccination drive for citizens below the age of 45, if we want to stop the spread of the virus. We aim to vaccinate all the citizens of Delhi by May 3 or 4, once the Delhi Government receives a good number of Covid-19 vaccine doses by the Central Government,” he said.

Delhi saw a record number of immunisations on Saturday, with over 80,000 jabs being administered in a day for the first time. The increase was largely driven by people between the ages of 45 and 59 for whom the vaccination drive opened up on Thursday. Nearly 46,000 of the total shots were administered in this category on Saturday.