New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Delhi continued to log over 5,000 Covid-19 cases for the fourth straight day on Saturday.
According to a health department bulletin, the national capital recorded 5,062 fresh Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total caseload to over 3.85 lakh while 41 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 6,511.
The infection rate stood at 11.42 per cent and case fatality rate remained below 1 per cent.
The new cases were detected out of the 44,330 tests conducted on Friday. The active cases tally rose to 32,719.
With the festive season on board, the unprecedented spike has raised concerns, especially when the national Covid tally has shown a steady decline.
The testing figures released on Saturday have seen a significant drop of 25 per cent the government has been conducting over a week’s time, which is almost 60,000 tests every day.
Meanwhile, this is the fourth day when Delhi has reported more than 5,000 cases since the pandemic struck the country. The national capital has been logging over 5,000 cases since Wednesday.
The government, however, has not declared it the third wave of Covid-19 cases yet. While the rise in cases is being attributed to the ongoing festival season – Chhath and Diwali approaching in November – the government says it is because of a robust contact tracing and testing.
The Covid-19 figures in the national capital have been increasing rapidly. A day ago, Delhi reported 5,891 new infections and 40 deaths. On Thursday, Delhi reported 5,739 new Covid-19 infections while the number of fresh cases recorded on Wednesday stood at 5,673.
However, on average, Delhi has reported 4,750 cases every day in the past week, suggesting that the trajectory of viral load in the city has crossed its peak.
On Friday, Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev held a review meeting with all district magistrates on the pandemic management, the government’s daily health bulletin said. In the past five days, the city has witnessed nearly 25,000 new cases.
The first time Delhi had reached the cumulative 25,000 mark was on June 4, 92 days after the city recorded its first case on March 2.
The unwanted record spike comes has coincided with an extended festive season and the onset of winter. Medical experts have suggested that the Covid-19 virus could become even more potent and fatal as the temperature drops.
The increase in Covid cases has also been linked to worsening pollution in the national capital, which is preparing for its annual bout with “severe” and “hazardous” air quality levels.
Meanwhile, the daily national Covid-19 tally of India is on a constant decline for over a week, which had been reporting close to one lakh cases daily till last month.
As per the experts, the country has passed its peak but a surge is looming over in view of festivity and laxity observed in the public.
