Uptick in Delhi's Covid cases but no stringent curbs needed as of now: Govt

According to the bulletin, 19,165 tests were conducted on Tuesday as compared to 13,099 on Wednesday. The positivity rate, however, stayed largely the same at 7.08% on Wednesday as compared to 7.22% the day before.

Delhi reported 928 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, down from 1,383 infections recorded on Tuesday, according to the Delhi government bulletin even as officials maintained that no stringent restrictions will be imposed as of now in view of an uptick in cases over the past few weeks since both hospitalisations and fatalities have stayed low.

Delhi's Covid graph shows an uptick. (HT FILE PHOTO)

According to the bulletin, 19,165 tests were conducted on Tuesday as compared to 13,099 on Wednesday. The positivity rate, however, stayed largely the same at 7.08% on Wednesday as compared to 7.22% the day before.

However, hospitalisations of the infection continue to remain minimal, and most beds in reserved facilities were vacant on Wednesday, reaffirming the milder nature of infections caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus that’s dominant in Delhi at the moment. Nearly 97.23% of Delhi’s 9,506 hospital beds kept aside for Covid-19 patients were vacant on Wednesday. Three people also died of the infection on Wednesday, according to the bulletin.

“With the current numbers, we will not be imposing any restrictions for now. The only thing we are stressing on is the use of masks. Number of cases may be rising but hospitalisations and deaths are very low,” said a senior health department official.

A second official said that the government is closely monitoring the spread of Covid-19. “During the last spike in cases (in January) also, the numbers rose for a short period, and then started declining. The number of hospital admissions was low and so was the death count. People were easily recovering within 5-7 days. We are observing a similar trend now. We are a little concerned about the presence of new variants or sub-lineages, such as BA.4 or BA.5, which have been found in other cities,” said another health official.

Health experts also said that harsh restrictions might not be the best way to manage surges.

Dr Atul Mathur, executive director, interventional cardiology and chief of cath lab at Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, said that since the prevalent Omicron variant is not causing symptoms as serious as those caused by the Delta variant, the restrictions need not be as stringent.

“In closed spaces such as Metros, malls or cinema halls, etc, overcrowding should be avoided,” Dr Mathur said.

Dr Sumit Ray, head of the department of critical care medicine at Holy Family Hospital, also said, “The cases are surely rising but we need to focus on the hospitalisation and death rate, which continues to be low. Closing down the economy is definitely not the best solution because that will have a greater impact on society. People should be allowed to go about their business.”