According to data shared by the city health department, Delhi recorded 416 new Covid cases on Saturday with a positivity rate of 14.37%, the highest in over seven months. The department also reported one Covid-related death, bringing the death count to 26,529. The bulletin had two additional sections to describe the fatality — ‘Primary cause of death is Covid – zero; primary cause of death is not Covid. Covid finding is incidental – one’.
The Delhi government is monitoring the spurt in Covid cases in the national capital and is ‘prepared to face any eventuality,’ said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday. The number of fresh Covid cases had seen a decline over the last few months in Delhi, and it had dropped to zero on January 16, the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic. However, the number of cases has been increasing over the last few days, amid a sharp rise in the figure of H3N2 influenza cases in the country.
Medical experts suggest that the new XBB.1.16 variant of the virus could be driving the surge, but they maintain that there is no need to panic. They recommend that people follow Covid-appropriate behavior and get booster shots of the vaccines. They also suggest that the rise in the number of cases could be due to more people getting tested for Covid as a precaution when they actually get infected with the influenza virus and develop fever and related symptoms.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said that the rise in the number of influenza cases is due to the Influenza A sub-type H3N2 virus, which is leading to more hospitalizations than the other sub-types. The symptoms include a runny nose, persistent cough, and fever.
On Wednesday, Delhi logged 300 cases, the first time since August 31, and two deaths while the positivity rate had mounted to 13.89%. On August 31, the city had logged 377 cases. Delhi had recorded 295 coronavirus cases on Thursday with a positivity rate of 12.48%. It had recorded 214 cases with a positivity rate of 11.82% on Tuesday, 115 cases with a positivity rate of 7.45% on Monday, 153 cases with a positivity rate of 9.13% on Sunday and 139 cases with a positivity rate of 4.98% on last Saturday.
The health department did not share a bulletin on Friday, but the death count due to the infection stood at 26,526, according to the Thursday bulletin. Only three deaths have been reported over the last four-five days, and in all three patients, co-morbidities were ‘very severe.’ It has been assessed that the fatality was due to co-morbidities and perhaps Covid was ‘incidental,’ but one can’t say that.
Ninety-five of the 7,986 beds are occupied in dedicated Covid hospitals in the city, while 717 patients are in home isolation, the health department said. The number of active cases of the infection currently stands at 1,216.
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