New Delhi, (Asian independent) Continuing with its recent trend of logging over 6,500 Covid-19 cases a day, the national capital on Thursday reported 6,715 new infections, taking Delhi’s overall coronavirus tally to 4,16,653, even as the positivity rate stood at 12.84 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution levels in the city.
The capital city had witnessed the highest-spike of 6,842 infections on Wednesday and has been logging a massive jump in cases since the last one week. On Tuesday, it had recorded 6,725 cases.
According to Delhi government data, as many as 5,289 people recovered and 66 died in the last 24 hours. Till now, 3,71,155 people have recovered, 38,729 people have active infection, and 6,769 people have died. The case fatality rate is 1.62 per cent.
About 52,294 Covid-19 tests were conducted on Tuesday. In total, 4,93,27,27 tests have been conducted so far in the national capital. The positivity rate, which is the percentage of people who test positive out of all the tests conducted, is also increasing and has mounted to 12.84 per cent.
Currently, 7,231 out of 15,803 beds are occupied in the hospitals, 1,028 out of 7,887 beds in the dedicated Covid Care Centres and 344 out of 527 beds in the dedicated Covid Health Centres. Over 23,411 people are in home isolation. Delhi has a total of 3,684 containment zones.
The sudden spike in cases comes amid the festive season and rising pollution levels. While Durga Puja celebrations ended on October 25, the next festivals are Diwali and Chhath on November 14 and November 20, respectively.
Observing the current scenario, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) stated that managing social distancing on Diwali is a matter of concern.
“Universal masking, frequent hand washing and maintaining physical distancing norms should see us through. Managing Diwali is a deep concern. IMA appeals to people for sublime and safe celebrations,” said RV Asokan, secretary-general of IMA.
However, he also said that the current spike in Covid cases is in line with the spikes observed throughout the world while adding that the severity of the illness has reduced as well.
“It is in line with the well-known second and third spikes observed throughout the world. It requires individual citizens not to let down the guard. There is some indication that the severity of the illness has come down,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Asokan also added that he does not see any further role for lockdown at this stage of the pandemic.