Delhi records over 1,000 Covid-19 cases for fourth day on the trot, positivity rate also up
On average, 85,300 tests were conducted daily during the past four days in comparison to nearly 76,000 tests conducted daily in the seven days before that and over 69,200 the week before that.
With 1,534 cases of Covid-19 reported on Friday, Delhi added over 1,000 infections to its overall tally for the fourth day on the trot. While the city had conducted a high number of tests during these past four days, the increase in cases was not merely a result of that as the positivity rate – the proportion of samples that return positive among the total tested -- had also kept rising. It has shot up from 1.31% to 1.80% in these four days, Delhi government data showed.
On average, 85,300 tests were conducted daily during the past four days in comparison to nearly 76,000 tests conducted daily in the seven days before that and over 69,200 the week before that.
Delhi has reported a positivity rate of more than 1% for the past seven days. The positivity rate – which is indicative of the spread of the infection in an area – had remained below the 1% mark in Delhi for 82 days, according to data shared by the Delhi government. But Friday’s 1.80% positivity rate was the highest since December 16, when it had touched 1.96%.
Along with the high number of cases, the city also saw an increase in the number of deaths from Covid-19. On Friday, nine Covid-19 deaths were recorded in the city, which was the highest since January 24, the last day when nine deaths were reported.
So far, 10,987 city residents have succumbed to the infection, the state health bulletin said.
“Once the number of cases start going up, the number of deaths also increase after around 10 days. This is because the severity of the infection in a patient reaches its peak in the eighth to the 12th day. We have been reporting an increase in the number of cases for over two weeks now. Also, there is a misconception among the people that the virus is causing milder disease this time around, which is not true. We are admitting several people with moderate and severe disease manifestation and they need to be put in the ICU,” said Dr GC Khilnani, chairman, PSRI Institute of Pulmonary and Critical care.
Delhi has seen an increase in the number of hospitalisations as well, with over 1,000 being admitted over the past three days, according to the health bulletin. The number of active cases or those living with the infection crossed the 6,000-mark as well. This is the highest since December-end.
“I am expecting the number of cases to go up further because people are not following Covid appropriate behaviour. And, that is mainly because the number of cases had come down, and people thought that it is like any other infection. There was also the vaccine euphoria. Now, the government needs to strictly enforce norms like wearing masks in public,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine, Safdarjung hospital.
