Coronavirus surge continues in city, fresh cases breach 7k mark

The Delhi high court had on Thursday reprimanded the government ,remarking that the city was on its way to become the “corona capital of the country.”

The Capital crossed another grim landmark in its fight against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Friday, with the city adding over 7,000 new cases in a single day for the first time. Apart from the 7,178 new cases, as per Friday’s health bulletin, with a positivity rate of 12.19%, the Capital added 64 deaths due to the infection.

Morning walkers and cyclists amid smog and cold weather at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/ Hindustan Times) (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

The number of cases in the capital have shot up over the last fortnight, with over 6,500 cases being recorded for four days in a row now. The Delhi high court had on Thursday reprimanded the government ,remarking that the city was on its way to become the “corona capital of the country.”

Delhi is among 10 states that have reported 79% of the cases in the last 24-hours, as per data from the Union health ministry.

On average, almost 52 persons died of the infection each day over the previous week. In comparison, 40 people had died each day of Covid-19 the week before.

The number of hospitalisations is also on the rise. On Friday, 7,528 people with the infection were admitted to hospitals, the highest the city has seen so far. This has led to hospitals filling up fast. Almost 75% of all intensive care unit (ICU) beds — with or without ventilators — were occupied as on Friday evening. And, over 48% of the total beds earmarked for the treatment of Covid-19 were occupied, according to data on the ‘Delhi Corona’ app.

The Delhi government on Friday ordered 22 hospitals – run by it and the private sector – to earmark an additional 1,100 beds for the treatment of Covid-19.

“The number of Covid-19 patients coming to the hospital has shot up, we are running almost at capacity. And, with most patients with mild symptoms choosing to remain in home isolation, hospitals are receiving the moderate to severe patients many of whom need critical care. The hospitals are stretched thin because in addition to Covid-19 cases, we will start seeing other respiratory ailments, heart attacks and strokes that go up during the winters,” said Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director, Max hospitals.

Agreeing, Dr Neeraj Gupta professor of pulmonary medicine at Safdarjung hospital said, “Most of the patients needs either oxygen support or ICU care, which is fast filling up. We are also getting many patients referred from private hospitals to us. And, the cases are likely to continue to rise till after chatt.

An expert committee headed by NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul had said that Delhi will see up to 15,000 cases a day during the winters.

Even with more than 50,000 tests being conducted each day on average over the last seven days, the positivity rate – proportion of samples that return positive among those tested — has gone up to an average of 11.8%. In comparison, it was 8.83% the week before. This is mainly owing to cases being reported from six districts — north, central, north-east, east, north-west and south-east — where the positivity rate is between 12% and 14%, Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan had said on Thursday after a review meeting.