The Capital recorded 2,024 new COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to a heath bulletin issued by the Delhi government on Sunday.
It added that 1,249 patients also recovered during the same period, taking the total number of active cases to 14,793. Delhi has recorded 1,73,390 COVID-19 cases and 4,426 deaths since the pandemic started.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that the government would double the number of tests conducted in the city to curb the spread of the virus, but the figures in the health bulletin showed that this is yet to happen. The government said, 6,881 RT-PCR tests and 13,555 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, which is similar to the number of tests conducted last week.
The Delhi government also shared data on Sunday showing that over the past month, between 20-40% beds in city hospitals have been occupied by patients from outside the Capital, especially from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain had recently said that the rise in the number of cases was due to people coming in from other States for treatment in Delhi.
It has been stated that on August 27, out of 401 patients admitted in hospitals here, 104 patients were from outside the city – 52 from Uttar Pradesh and 18 from Haryana.
In private hospitals
The trend, the government said, was also similar when it comes to private hospitals in Delhi. The data showed several people who did not hail from the Capital also died here.
Earlier, when the number of cases were rising in June, Mr. Kejriwal had called for reservation of beds in Delhi government hospitals for Delhiites. However, this decision was overruled by the Lieutenant-Governor.
The Capital now has 820 containment zones and 7,527 people are under home isolation here. Out of the 14,145 available hospital beds, 4,030 are occupied and out of the 599 beds at dedicated COVID-19 health centres, 336 are occupied.
At dedicated COVID-19 care centre, which have 10,143 beds, 5,113 are vacant at present.
