Delhi breaks all records in daily Covid-19 cases, Kejriwal rules out lockdown

Delhi recorded 10,732 cases in a 24-hour span, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a press conference on Sunday. Before this, the highest daily tally was recorded on November 11, 2020, when Delhi saw 8,593 infections in a day.

National capital Delhi broke all records in number of Covid-19 cases recorded in a 24-hour span, when 10,732 fresh infections were recorded on Sunday. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal termed this as a serious situation and urged the people of Delhi to be careful.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during his visit to a hospital to review the preparedness for Covid-19 management, in New Delhi on Saturday. (HT Photo)

"Today, in a 24-hour span, Delhi recorded 10,732 cases. This will be published in the health bulletin which will be released in the evening. This shows how rapidly Covid-19 has spread in the national capital," Kejriwal said at a press conference.

"Till mid-March, Delhi was reporting less than 200 new cases of the infection in a 24-hour span. Yesterday, it recorded 7,897 new cases. Before that, the number was over 8,500," he added.

The situation is worrying, the chief minister said, adding that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government is keeping an eye on the situation. Kejriwal once again ruled out a lockdown, saying it should only be imposed if the hospital system collapses.

On November 11, 2020, Delhi recorded 8,593 infections, which was the highest single-day spike in the national capital till now.

Delhi is among the 10 states and union territories (UTs) which have been showing an upward trajectory of daily new Covid-19 cases. The Union health ministry said that these states account for more than 80% of new cases.

Delhi's positivity rate - proportion of samples that test positive - has reached 10.21%, more than double the World Health Organization's (WHO) acceptable limit of 5%. WHO experts said that positivity rate of more than 5% shows that the infection is becoming unmanageable.

The city recorded 77,374 tests on Saturday as compared to 89,334 tests conducted daily on average over the last seven days. The daily number of tests crossed the 100,000 mark twice within the week.

The Delhi government has prohibited all types of gatherings, reduced size of weddings and funerals, and halved the capacity of public transport as part of restrictions to control the spread of Covid-19.