Delhi recorded a massive surge in daily COVID-19 infections with 2,716 fresh cases on the first day of the new year, the highest since May 21 and a 51 percent jump from a day earlier, while the positivity rate rose to 3.64 percent.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that the hospital occupancy is still low and further restrictions will be reviewed soon.While the emergence of the new Omicron variant has sparked fears of a third wave, there has been a constant surge in the COVID-19 tally in the national capital which recorded 7,865 cases in the last seven days. The positivity rate has risen to 3.64 percent from 0.55 percent on December 26.
The city on Saturday recorded 351 cases of Omicron. There were only 142 cases of the new variant of COVID-19 on Monday.Out of 2,716 fresh infections recorded on Saturday, south Delhi has registered the maximum number of cases at 372, followed by west district (356), northwest (323), southeast (314) and Central Delhi (278). The city also recorded one death.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Wednesday decided that COVID-related restrictions imposed in Delhi under the ”yellow alert” would continue for the time being and authorities would monitor the situation for a while before deciding on fresh curbs.”We have put the restrictions in place. In other states, only night curfew has been imposed. But in Delhi, we have shut down schools, multiplexes, etc.”In April and May when the second (COVID) wave had hit Delhi, a large chunk of people were getting admitted. But currently, the hospitalisations are less. Further restrictions will be reviewed,” Jain told reporters.
On Friday, there were 1,796 cases while 1,313 cases were recorded on Thursday. On Wednesday, Tuesday and Monday, the daily cases tally had stood at 923, 496 and 331, respectively.The Delhi government, meanwhile, decided to provide free customised online yoga classes for COVID patients in home isolation.”Yoga has the magical power of healing all kinds of ailments. Thus, those suffering from COVID need yoga the most. It is seen that the number of COVID patients is rising in Delhi, but they are mostly asymptomatic and are being advised to stay in home isolation.”Thus, along with medical treatment, we will help them boost their immunity through online yoga sessions,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said at an event.
The number of COVID-19 patients under home isolation stood at 3,248 on Saturday while it was 2,284 a day before.The daily case count on Saturday breached the 2000-mark after a gap of over seven months, as 2,716 new cases were logged with an increased positivity rate of 3.64 percent, as per the latest health bulletin.The positivity rate recorded on Saturday was also the highest since the corresponding figure reported on May 21. Active cases in Delhi on Saturday significantly mounted to 6,360 from 4,410 on Friday.Amid a jump in cases of Omicron in Delhi, doctors had recently cautioned that people should avoid all gatherings and follow COVID-appropriate behaviours, else the pandemic situation may worsen given the highly transmissible nature of this variant of coronavirus.
According to the Saturday bulletin, of the 8,883 dedicated COVID beds in Delhi, 247 were occupied, including by suspected cases, while 8,636 beds were lying vacant.Also, 19 COVID positive passengers brought from the airport have been admitted in hospitals, it said, adding, in total 82 coronavirus patients were on oxygen support while five severe COVID patients were on ventilator.Meanwhile, according to Delhi government data, around 5,000 violations related to COVID-appropriate behaviour were reported on Friday.Out of the total 4,997 violations, 4,808 were related to not wearing face masks, 109 to not maintaining social distancing, and 80 to spitting in public places, the data stated.Of the 4,808 violations related to not wearing face masks, the maximum were reported from the central district (705), followed by north (690) and east (547), it said.On Tuesday, the DDMA had declared the “yellow alert” under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the city amid a spike in cases following the emergence of the Omicron variant.
The alert entails restrictions like night curfew, closure of schools and colleges, the opening of shops selling non-essential items on an odd-even basis and halved seating capacity in Metro trains and buses, among other things.The GRAP is based on positivity rate (on two consecutive days), the cumulative number of new cases (over a week) and average oxygenated-bed occupancy (for a week) for designated four levels of alerts.After the “yellow alert”, further restrictions are imposed at advanced stages of “amber”, “orange” and “red” with a higher number of new cases and hospitalisations.
