Delhi is the second worst-affected region by the COVID-19 outbreak
New Delhi:
Delhi reported 3,788 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, government data showed Wednesday evening, taking the total number of cases in the national capital to 70,390 and overtaking Mumbai (68,481 cases) to become the worst-affected metro city.
Over the same 24 hours 64 deaths were linked to the infectious virus, taking the total number of deaths to 2,365. This translates to a mortality rate of 3.35 per cent, which is marginally higher than the national rate of 3.17 per cent.
Data also showed that 2,124 people were discharged from hospitals after receiving treatment; the number of people to have fought of the virus has risen to 41,437. Delhi’s recovery rate is 58.8 per cent compared to India’s 56.71 per cent.
As of Wednesday evening there are 26,588 active cases in the city, with 14,844 of them ordered to isolate at home.
There have been over 2,000 new cases day since June 17, with four of the past five days reporting more than 3,000 fresh infections. On Tuesday the city detected 3,947 novel coronavirus cases – the most in a single day.
The massive spike in cases in Delhi has coincided with “Unlock1”, the centre’s attempt to restart economic and commercial activity in least-affected zones.
On May 23, 16 days prior to the start of “Unlock1”, there were 12,536 cases. On June 8, when “Unlock1” came into effect, Delhi had 29,561 cases.
In the 16 days since “Unlock1” Delhi has reported 40,748 coronavirus cases.
Delhi has reported 70,000 COVID-19 confirmed cases, making it the worst-affected metro city
The Delhi government has struggled to respond to the spike in cases, with hospital beds, ventilators (machines that take over the body’s breathing process during severe respiratory problems) and other medical equipment in short supply.
Late Tuesday night it said every house in the city will be screened by July 6 to identify and isolate all potential COVID-19 cases. It also said houses in containment zones will be screened by June 30; Delhi has over 260 such zones. Surveillance and contact tracing in these areas is to be strengthened.
These decisions, and others, came after meetings between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the past two weeks. The meetings were prompted by a searing reprimand from the Supreme Court over the handling of the health crisis by the ruling AAP (Aam Aadmi Party).
The Delhi government has, however, objected to guidelines that said all COVID-19 patients would have to report to a quarantine centre for evaluation.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has appealed to Amit Shah to reconsider this order, saying it would strain an already overburdened health system.
Last week Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, who represents the centre, revoked an order imposing mandatory five-day quarantine for all patients. The AAP had objected to this as well, pointing out that this would mean arranging over 90,000 hospital beds, which was virtually impossible at the moment.
Across India the number of COVID-19 cases has crossed 4.5 lakh, with 14,476 deaths linked to the virus. The country reported 15,968 cases in 24 hours, data showed Wednesday morning.
