Delhi’s Covid-19 cases breach 300-mark third time this month; tally at 641,660

As many as 234 patients recovered in the last 24 hours and the recoveries are nearing 629,000 while the active cases have climbed to 1,812, the health department's bulletin showed.

Delhi registered 320 fresh cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Tuesday, the third time in March when the daily count went above the 300-mark, data from the health department’s bulletin showed. According to data, there were 312 cases on March 5 and 321 on March 6—the highest in nearly 1.5 months after 340 infections were reported on January 14. The new infections have pushed the Capital’s caseload to 641,660 and the death toll has gone up to 10,928 after four related fatalities in the last 24 hours, according to the health department’s bulletin.

A health worker collects a swab sample for a Covid-19 test at Anand Vihar Bus Terminal, in New Delhi, India, ( Photo by Raj K Raj/ Hindustan Times)

As many as 234 patients recovered in the last 24 hours and the recoveries are nearing 629,000 while the active cases have climbed to 1,812, the bulletin added. The fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday were a result of 66,744 tests carried out of which 40,885 were RT-PCR/CBNAAT/TruNat tests while the remaining 25,859 were rapid antigen tests.

The overall coronavirus disease situation in Delhi has been worsening since February 24 when 200 people were tested positive. Prior to this period, Delhi was adding just above 100 cases and on February 16, only 94 cases were added-, which had been the lowest after a gap of more than eight months. No deaths were reported on February 9, 13, 17 and February 25. However, this month, only one day (March 2) had seen zero deaths.

Amid the recent uptick in cases, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain told news agency PTI on Sunday that the outbreak was nearing an ‘endemic’ phase in the capital. Citing experts, Jain said that some cases might continue to occur in the endemic phase. “Delhi witnessed a swine flu outbreak around 10 years ago, but still some cases are reported every year. Coronavirus is not going to end completely... we will have to learn to live with it,” the health minister added.

Meanwhile, Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal had ordered authorities on March 5 to continue with the existing strategy against the pandemic, including cluster-based surveillance, testing and genome sequencing. Chairing a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which was attended by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet colleagues, Baijal said that there was no need to lower the guard against Covid-19 adding that there was a need to enhance vaccine coverage.