‘Prepare for winter surge of 15K cases a day’

NCDC report also says virus deaths possibly under-reported

October 08, 2020 01:01 am | Updated 10:16 am IST - New Delhi

A man takes a rapid antigen test at Daryaganj in Delhi.

A man takes a rapid antigen test at Daryaganj in Delhi.

A report prepared by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and submitted to the Delhi government earlier this week states that Delhi should prepare for a surge of 15,000 positive cases per day during the winter months. As many as 2,324 healthcare workers in the city have been infected by COVID-19 and 75 of them have died, says the yet-to-be-made-public ‘Revised Strategy for control of COVID-19 version 3.0’. It also suggests the death figure may be “under-reported”.

The government is expected to come up with a revised strategy based on the report, which was prepared in consultation with an expert group headed by NITI Aayog member V.K Paul. Last month, Lt. Governor Anil Baijal had directed to prepare a revised plan to fight the virus.

“It is recommended that Delhi should prepare for a daily surge of about 15,000 positive cases and make arrangements for inpatient admissions of patients and moderate and severe disease roughly amounting to 20 percent of this surge (sic),” says the report, seen by The Hindu .

Explaining why the Capital should prepare for a surge of 15,000 cases a day, the report says winter months make respiratory illnesses more severe and patients from outside Delhi, who are likely to be “more serious”, may come in “large numbers”.

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