Wave on steady decline, experts advise caution
Experts warned that as the city has started opening up the authorities should strictly enforce Covid appropriate behaviour such as wearing a mask and social distancing.
The daily positivity rate for Covid-19 in Delhi dropped to an all-time low of 0.17% on Sunday, even as the city reported 124 new infections, the lowest in over four months, underlining the Capital’s turnaround after the brutal fourth wave of the viral outbreak. For the second day in a row, there were only seven new deaths reported in the city on Sunday, according to Delhi government data.
Sunday’s positivity rate —proportion of samples tested that return positive for Covid-19 – in Delhi is the joint-lowest ever recorded in the city (tied with the positivity rate on February 16) since the start of the outbreak in March last year.
Positivity rate is a crucial metric that shows how widespread the virus is in the community, and over time it provides an idea of whether a region’s testing strategy is adequate to contain the virus. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that this statistic remain below 5% for an outbreak to be considered under control. In Delhi, the daily positivity rate has now remained below that threshold for more than a month.
However, experts warned that as the city has started opening up the authorities should strictly enforce Covid appropriate behaviour such as wearing a mask and social distancing.
Dr Jacob John, former head of the clinical virology department at Christian Medical College in Vellore said, “People have to be responsible and there should be strict enforcement drives. Vaccination numbers also need to be increased gradually. The government should keep a close watch on Covid-19 trends and exercise caution before lifting restrictions from closed spaces such as gyms, cinema halls, etc,” he said.
The fourth wave of the pandemic has now seen a steady drop for eight consecutive weeks in the city. The seven-day average of new infections – which denotes a region’s Covid-19 curve – had touched a peak of 25,294 new cases a day on April 23, but has now dropped to 165 cases a day in the past week, a drop of over 99% from the peak, according to HT’s Covid-19 dashboard.
This drop in cases over the past few weeks has prompted the government to begin a phased opening up of the city since the start of June. On Sunday, the government said bars in the city can reopen with 50% seating capacity from Monday, so can public parks, gardens, golf clubs and outdoor yoga activities. The latest order comes in addition to the previously enforced opening up of services like Metro, buses, markets, shops and multiplexes etc.
A government spokesperson said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed all authorities to follow the strictest measures against those who are found flouting the norms.