Covid-19: 359 new cases, 20 deaths in Delhi; number reaches almost 8,000

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, sought suggestions on Tuesday from the public on relaxations that could be allowed in the national capital after May 17.

National capital Delhi is two short of 8,000 Covid-19 positive cases. The state’s health minister Satyendar Jain said that Delhi received 359 new cases till midnight on Tuesday.

A volunteer conducts thermal screening for people queuing outside the New Delhi Railway Station after train services resumed for the first time since the nationwide lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus, in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Vipin Kumar/HT Photo)

“Twenty deaths and 359 new positive cases were reported in Delhi in 24 hours till midnight yesterday, taking the total number of cases to 7,998 and deaths to 106. Three hundre forty six people have been cured/discharged taking the total number of recovered cases to 2,858,” Jain said on Wednesday morning.

In its health bulletin on Tuesday, the Delhi government said that the total number of tests in the city has crossed the 1,00,000-mark. This puts the number of tests per million in Delhi at around 5,200, the highest in India.

On Tuesday, 383 people recovered from the viral infection, taking the number of recoveries to 2,512 so far in the city-state. This puts Delhi’s recovery rate at almost 33 per cent, mirroring the national average of about 32 per cent.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, meanwhile, sought suggestions on Tuesday from the public on relaxations that could be allowed in the national capital after May 17, when the third phase of national lockdown ends. He also stressed that opening up the city completely was not possible as this stage given the number of new Covid-19 cases every day.

Kejriwal, who was addressing a media conference digitally, said his government is also engaging with experts and doctors to get a holistic view on services that could resume and those that would have to shut after May 17.

Kejriwal said the Delhi government will accept suggestions from the public till 5pm on Wednesday, and a final proposal will be sent to the Centre on Thursday.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s video conference with all chief ministers on Monday, Kejriwal had appealed to PM Modi to categorise only the containment zones, not all the 11 revenue districts of the city, as “red zones”.