For four days, fewer than 4k cases in Capital

On Tuesday, 3,714 people tested positive for the viral infection, according to the daily health bulletin released by the Delhi government. The Capital added 3,816 cases of the infection on Tuesday, 2,548 on Monday, and 3,812 on Sunday.

Delhi has recorded fewer than 4,000 cases of the coronavirus disease for four days now, with the positivity rate lower than 7% over the last two days.

A health worker collects a swab sample at Rajendra Nagar on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, 3,714 people tested positive for the viral infection, according to the daily health bulletin released by the Delhi government. The Capital added 3,816 cases of the infection on Tuesday, 2,548 on Monday, and 3,812 on Sunday.

To be sure, the bulletins on Sunday and Monday usually see a dip in testing and new cases, owing to the weekend.

The daily average test positivity rate for the infection too has dropped to 6.89% in the seven days ending Wednesday, from 7.18% recorded over the seven days before that.

“In Delhi, the cases that are being reported now are not from the same areas from where cases were being reported in June. It is likely that the numbers will go down after people in the areas where there were fewer infections earlier also get it. This is what happened in Bihar where the spread could not be controlled, but the numbers eventually dropped after several people were infected,” said Dr Puneet Mishra, professor of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Even as the number of cases have dipped below the 4,000-mark, the number of deaths has remained almost the same, with around 35 deaths recorded on average each day over the last one week.

This has resulted in an increase in the seven-day case fatality ratio (CFR). The seven-day CFR stood at 0.9%, compared to 0.7% a week ago.

The cumulative CFR in the city has been reducing, indicating that fewer deaths took place during the September surge than during the initial surge in the city in June. The cumulative CFR dipped below 2% for the first time on Wednesday; it stood at 1.98%. In comparison, India’s CFR stands at 1.6%

“Fewer deaths due to Covid-19 are being reported now as the treatment protocol has been standardised. We have learnt that the patients respond better to high flow nasal oxygen than on ventilator. We now know that steroids work and are prescribing it early on. We have learnt the importance of early treatment. These have helped in bringing down the mortality,” said Dr Neeraj Gupta, professor of pulmonology at Safdarjung hospital