Delhi logs 2,716 new Covid-19 cases, highest since May 21; positivity rate up at 3.64%

The current increase in the number of cases is likely driven by the new, heavily-mutated, Omicron variant. Delhi, which has been witnessing a sharp uptick in the number of Omicron cases, recorded 31 of them in the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 351. According to data shared by the state government, Delhi has the second-highest number of Omicron cases in the country after Maharashtra, which has reported 454 cases.

With Omicron entering the stage of community transmission, the positivity rate, or the proportion of the total samples that return positive, has also surged to 3.64% up from 2.44% a day ago. The third phase of restrictions under the government’s graded action response plan should kick in when the positivity rate remains over 2% for two consecutive days.

Crowded Old Fort on the first day of the year, in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

However, the government did not implement the second level of restrictions keeping in mind the migrant workers and said further restrictions will be implemented after a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.

The increase in positivity rate was seen despite a high number of tests being conducted. Delhi conducted more than 73,590 tests Thursday. Over 62,200 tests were conducted each day on an average over the last week.

Delhi now has over 6,000 active cases of which 247 are in hospitals.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said, “Keeping in view the on-going situation, more than 3,000 beds have already been prepared for the children. All healthcare workers are being trained and instructed properly on the treatment of Coronavirus. There is no separate treatment for the different variants of the virus.”

He said that the government is fully prepared for the vaccination of children aged between 15 and 18 years, which is scheduled to commence Monday.

He said that treatment and prevention for Omicron is the same and people need to follow masking, social distancing and hand washing. He added, “People are demanding Omicron tests these days. This is to inform them that the information on Omicron is necessary only for the government and policy makers. The Omicron variant is a variant of the coronavirus itself and the protocol for its treatment and prevention is also the same as before.”