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Covid 3rd wave: What about the peak of death in Delhi? Experts weigh in
Delhi might have passed the peak of the daily infections, but the peak of fatalities which generally takes place a week after the peak of the cases is yet to arrive.
That Delhi is past the peak of the third wave of the Covid pandemic has been asserted by Delhi ministers and experts as for the past few days the national capital recorded a steady decline in the number of daily positive infections. On January 13, Delhi reported over 28,000 cases which is believed to be the peak.
Doctors, however, opine that there is another peak to watch out for, which is the peak of the fatalities. This takes place generally a week or two after the peak of the daily cases.
The fastest peak in daily cases followed by an increase in death has been the characteristic of the ongoing wave driven by the Omicron. On Thursday, Delhi reported 43 deaths which was the highest death in the city since June 10.
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"Any patient who has got admitted after testing positive generally dies after his or her condition deteriorates in the next one week or so, and hence, death tally will peak later than the cases tally," a doctor at the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences said to PTI.
Delhi has reported nearly 400 deaths in January so far but the majority of these have been attributed to comorbidities, not Omicron.
"After that record surge a week ago, which is being seen as a peak, cases have come down. Even the number of calls I was getting for medical consultations from patients have come down a lot in the past few days, indicating the situation is improving," Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, a senior consultant at Apollo Hospitals, said.
The Delhi government on Friday sent a proposal to lift the weekend curfew to Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, which has been rejected. Baijal, however, has accepted the government's proposal to allow private offices to function with 50% staff strength.
(With PTI inputs)
