Experts had warned that Delhi could record one lakh cases daily during this wave but the danger has been averted, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday. Despite the arrival of new cases every day for the last few days, the number of patients admitted to hospital is stable at present, he added.
The Capital recorded 10,756 new COVID-19 cases on Friday along with 38 deaths. The health bulletin said that 59,529 tests have been conducted with a positivity rate of 18.04%. In the past 24 hours, 17,494 patients have recovered while 48,356 remain in home isolation. Of the 61,954 active cases in the city, 2,555 are admitted in hospitals.
The Delhi government said that the city reported the highest number of cases of this COVID wave on January 12, which was nearly 28,000. About 8-10 days ago, the positivity rate was around 31%, but now it wasdown to around 17%. Assessing the downward graph, it said that restrictions imposed in the Capital had worked and suggested that some of them could now be lifted.
Mr. Jain said: “The government had taken steps ranging from weekend curfew to closure of educational institutions in public interest to protect the health of the people and save as many lives as possible. These restrictions have worked and have brought the situation under control, which led to a decline in the number of cases.”
He added that all precautions are being taken by the Delhi government so that the pace of infection can slow down in the city and requested the public to continue wearing masks, cleaning hands with hand sanitiser and practice social distancing.