Delhi recorded its sharpest single-day spike of 8,593 fresh novel coronavirus cases on Wednesday which took the national capital’s infection tally to almost 4.60 lakh, and 85 more fatalities the highest since June 16.
The fresh infections, which took the city’s case count to 4,59,975, were reported after 64,121 tests were taken the previous day.
Of these, 19,304 were RTPCR and 44,817 rapid antigen tests. The positivity rate stood at 13.4 per cent, according to the latest health department bulletin.
The number of containment zones in Delhi stands at 4,016. The active cases tally on Wednesday rose to 42,629 from 41,385 the previous day, while the recovery rate stood at 89.16%. Over 7,000 patients have recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 4,10,118.
Delhi’s previous highest single-day spike of 7,830 cases was recorded on Tuesday.
The 85 new fatalities pushed the death toll to 7,228, the bulletin said. The only time the city recorded a higher number of deaths was on June 16 (93).
Kejriwal requests Centre to augment bed capacity in Centre-run hospitals
In view of the rising coronavirus cases in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has requested Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to augment bed capacity in central government-run hospitals in the city.
In a letter to Vardhan last week, Kejriwal cited a shortfall of around 4,900 beds in hospitals, seeking the Union minister’s direction to the hospitals run by the central government in Delhi to provide at least 1,092 additional beds, including 300 ICU beds, with the required medical staff.
The chief minister said Delhi is witnessing a renewed increase in the number of Covid-19 cases for the last few days and cited the revised response strategy 3.0 of the Dr Paul Committee, projecting up to 15,000 coronavirus cases per day during the third surge in the upcoming weeks due to the rising pollution, celebration of festivals, wedding season and other factors.
At present, Delhi has a total bed capacity of 15,713, including ICU beds, for COVID-19 patients, he pointed out.
However, the shortfall of around 4,900 beds will have to be met by augmentation in hospitals run by both the Centre and the state government, Kejriwal said.
The central government-run hospitals in the national capital have a proposed augmentation of around 1,092 beds, he said and requested Vardhan for the necessary directions so that the bed capacity in Delhi’s hospitals for COVID 19 patients is adequate in the coming weeks.
