Infections soar as Delhi adds 3,594 more cases, 14 deaths

Friday’s spike was the highest single-day spike since December 4, when Delhi added 4,067 infections.

The number of new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Delhi have nearly doubled over the last two days, with the city adding 3,594 infections on Friday, as against 1,819 on Wednesday, with health experts calling for non-essential activities to be restricted to prevent the current surge from spiralling out of control.

Visitors, some not wearing face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, at Khan Market, in New Delhi (Photo by Sanchit Khanna / Hindustan Times)

Friday’s spike was the highest single-day spike since December 4, when Delhi added 4,067 infections.

The Capital added the last 10,000 infections in five days, the 10,000 cases before it in eight days, and the 10,000 before that in 33 days, shows data released by the Delhi government, indicating the exponential spread of the virus in the city over the past two weeks.

This comes as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, during a press briefing on Friday, expressed concerns over the fourth wave of the infection in the city, and urged the Centre to open the vaccination drive for everyone above the age of 18.

The city also recorded 14 deaths due to the viral infection on Friday, the most in a single day since January 12 when the city recorded 16 deaths. So far, the disease has killed 11,050 people in the city.

As per the data, Delhi had added the last 100 deaths to its toll in 15 days as against 47 days for the 100 deaths before that. During the surge in cases in November, the city had reported the highest 131 deaths in a day.

After addressing an urgent meeting with the health department to discuss the case surge in the Capital, the chief minister on Friday said infections during the current wave were less severe and less fatal than in the past.

Currently, the cumulative case fatality rate (CFR) – proportion of deaths among those who test positive for the infection – stands at 1.65%. The city’s highest CFR so far was 4.1% in June, when health professionals were still finalising treatment protocol for the infection.

“ICU beds in my hospital are filling up. I have patients who urgently need oxygen, I am seeing the same kind of CT scan that I saw last year. There is no evidence so far to suggest that the infection has become milder. Yes, the case fatality rate has definitely gone down across the country from 3 or 4% to around 1.5%. There are fewer deaths taking place because people are aware of the disease and are reaching hospital on time. Doctors have also gained experience in treating Covid-19 patients and know what works,” said Dr GC Khilnani, former head of the department of pulmonology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He is currently the chairperson of PSRI Institute of pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine.

He said, “Another reason that fewer hospitalisations are taking place is that younger people are getting the infections at the moment. They are the ones travelling, going to the market and to parties.”

The city has seen a steady increase in the number of hospitalisations, from just 489 at the beginning of March to 2,255 as on Thursday night, reported a day later in Friday’s health bulletin.

In the same period, the number of active cases — those currently infected — went up from 1,404 to 11,994, according to data shared by the Delhi government.

“If there is a susceptible population, the number of cases will keep going up and down. Although the seroprevalence in Delhi was 56% [according to the fifth sero survey in January] and many have been vaccinated, the infection started spreading among the others when those who had been at home started stepping out when cases fell in December and January... But a lockdown is not the answer,” said Dr Puneet Mishra, professor of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

He added, “However, everyone needs to follow social distancing norms and mask up. Unnecessary gatherings should be curtailed.”

The Delhi government last week introduced curbs on gatherings, limiting them to 200 people in open spaces, 100 in closed halls, and 50 people in funerals.