More than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases in Delhi after six months

The Capital on Wednesday recorded more than 2,000 fresh Covid-19 cases for the first time in six months, showed state government data, as infections in the city continued to clock upwards marginally.

The Capital on Wednesday recorded more than 2,000 fresh Covid-19 cases for the first time in six months, showed state government data, as infections in the city continued to clock upwards.

More than 2,000 new Covid-19 cases in Delhi after six months. (HT FILE PHOTO)

Delhi added 2,073 cases on Wednesday, up from 1,506 a day earlier and the most in 24 hours since 2,272 on February 4 this year, during the tail-end of the Omicron-driven fifth wave of infections.

Five people died of Covid-19, the Wednesday bulletin showed.

Over the past seven days, the city recorded an average of 1,339 Covid-19 infections, the highest this number (known as the case trajectory) has been since 1,402 on June 24, a period when Delhi’s case graph seemed to be on the rise.

Of the 17,815 tests conducted on Wednesday, 11.64% returned positive results, the daily health bulletin showed. The test positivity rate has been past 10% for three days straight and is now at its highest since January 24, when 11.79% of samples collected were diagnosed to have Covid-19.

The bulletin also showed that 5,637 in the city are battling Covid-19, though a vast majority of them are recovering at home.

Hospitals in Delhi have been unaffected by the recent uptick, with a minuscule percentage of active Covid-19 patients requiring attention in a facility. Of Delhi’s 9,405 Covid-19 hospital beds, just 376 were occupied as on Wednesday evening, leaving 96% vacant.

The flat rate of hospitalisations underlines the milder symptoms caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus that is responsible for most infections in the city.

A senior official of the Delhi government’s health department said they have sounded an alert to the districts on the rise in the number of infections in the Capital.

“The primary reason behind this rise is complacency among people. Everything has opened up and the majority of the people are not wearing masks or following any social distancing. We have asked the districts to ramp up action against mask violations,” the official said.