No need to panic, says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as Covid positivity rate crosses 15%

The capital also recorded six deaths with the infection on Monday, which is the highest since June 25 when also six deaths had been recorded.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (PTI)

With the Covid positivity rate in Delhi continuing to remain above 15%, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government was monitoring the situation closely. Delhi recorded 2,495 cases as per Tuesday’s health bulletin at a positivity rate of 15.41%. Seven Covid patients died in 24 hours, the highest in around two months.

“Covid-19 cases are rising again and we are closely monitoring the situation. We will take actions as per the need of the situation. All cases are mild in nature. People are having normal fever-like symptoms and there is no need to panic,” Kejriwal said.

Also Read | Most Covid-19 deaths in Delhi among those with comorbidities

The capital also recorded six deaths with the infection on Monday, which is the highest since June 25 when also six deaths had been recorded. City doctors said that patients who are co-morbid or have been admitted to hospitals for treatment of other ailments with the finding of Covid-19 being incidental, are the ones passing away.

The city has 8,506 active cases at present.

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Few patients in hospitals

While the spike in Covid cases and positivity rate is higher than was seen in the past few months, officials in the government are assured that it will not lead to a big crisis as the number of patients being admitted to hospitals is still low. Since the omicron variant hit the city in January, overall case fatality ratio in the city has also dropped from around 1.7% to 1.3% now.

While there has been an uptick in cases and positivity rate over the past two weeks, the rise in hospitalisation has been slower.

At present, 507 Covid patients, and 27 people suspected to have Covid are admitted in Delhi hospitals. Of these, 168 are in the ICU, 130 are on oxygen support and 16 are on ventilator support. 93 of these patients are not residents of Delhi. Of the 9,409 beds set aside for Covid patients in the city, 8,875 are vacant.

The spike in cases over the past two weeks is different from the two small spikes seen in April and June since Covid cases in the capital are continuing to increase. To compare, fewer than 1,800 cases and around 10% positivity was the highest recorded during the previous two spikes in infection. Experts said that these ups and downs in the infection is likely to continue for some time before settling into a seasonal pattern, unless there is a new variant that starts spreading.

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