Delhi's daily Covid-19 caseload records another spike, crosses 5,000-mark

A total of 5,100 fresh infections in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 685,062 and 17 new fatalities pushed the toll to 11,113 in the city-state.

The national capital's Covid-19 trajectory reached a red zone on Tuesday after the daily cases rose sharply past the 5,000-mark in what has been termed as the fourth wave of infections.

FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020, file photo, a woman without a mask walks in a crowded market selling toys in New Delhi, India. (AP)

A total of 5,100 fresh infections in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 685,062 and 17 new fatalities pushed the toll to 11,113 in the city-state, according to the health bulletin.

The positivity rate in Delhi dipped marginally to 4.93 % from 5.54% recorded a day earlier.

In a cause of concern for authorities, the active cases have soared in the last 24 hours. As of Tuesday, Delhi has 17,332 active cases, up from 14,589 on Monday. The designated containment zones have also increased accordingly and reached 3,291, the health bulletin showed.

The surge in daily cases recorded - up from Monday's 3,548 - comes as the authorities decided to ramp up the testing and tracing strategy in a bid to contain the rising infections.

Earlier in the day, Delhi government imposed a night curfew that will be in place every day from 10pm to 5am in the wake of the rising Covid-19 cases in the national Capital.

During the seven-hour curfew period, movement of only government officials, healthcare workers, those working for essential services or arriving at airports, railway stations or interstate bus terminals (ISBTs) and those travelling for Covid-19 vaccination or any medical treatment will be allowed.

“The situation of Covid-19 in NCT of Delhi has been reviewed and it has been observed that there has been a sudden increase in Covid-19 cases in recent past along with high positivity rate and therefore, it is felt that night curfew needs to be imposed in the territory of NCT of Delhi from 10pm to 5am, except for essential activities/services, as an emergency measure for well being and safety of people,” read the order issued by acting chief secretary Satya Gopal on behalf of the Delhi disaster management authority (DDMA).

It will be in force till April 30 or until further orders.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had confirmed that the city-state is witnessing the fourth wave of infections, even as the rest of the country is reeling from the second wave.

“For the rest of the country, one may call it the second wave. But for Delhi, this is the fourth wave. We are heading towards the fourth peak. This wave is witnessing an exponential increase in cases and spreading very fast. It is concerning but there is nothing to panic because this wave is also less severe in terms of number of deaths and cases that require hospitalisation, admission to ICU, etc,” Kejriwal said at a digital news briefing.

Delhi witnessed its first wave in June, followed by the second in September and the third wave in November, which has been the worst so far, with the highest case tally of 8,593.