Outbreak now under control but keep guard up: Kejriwal

NEWDELHI: The Covid-19 situation in the Capital was on a worrying trajectory until a few weeks ago but a concerted effort helped turn the situation around, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Wednesday, cautioning people that the outbreak could spike again if they become complacent.

“Today, I am happy that we have waded through the tough times we had seen at the beginning of June. Our hard work has paid off. Today, only around 26,000 active cases are there in Delhi against our projection of 60,000 cases. This projection was made based on a portal created by the government of India,” he added. Kejriwal also pointed to other data points such as availability of beds and recovery rate to back his statement.

Delhi ended Wednesday with 89,802 cases of which 27,007 are active. It has so far seen 2,803 deaths, and 59,992 people have recovered from the coronavirus disease.

In a digital press conference, Kejriwal steered clear of claiming that the worst of the pandemic is behind the city-state -- as indicated by numbers of the last week -- and instead urged people to strictly follow the only regimen known to prevent infections: wearing masks, maintaining hygiene, and distancing socially.

Delhi saw a peak of 3947 cases on June 23, but the number has come down steadily since then despite the number of tests increasing. In the eight days since (including Wednesday, July 1) the city has seen, 3788, 3390, 3460, 2948, 2889, 2084, 2199, and 2,442 cases. The daily positivity rate (number of people testing positive to number of tests), which was hovering around a peak of 32% in mid-June has since fallen and was 12.24% on Wednesday.

Although Kejriwal asked people not to rely on reports circulating in social media that the peak of Covid-19 cases in Delhi was over., he did admit that “the situation now is not as scary as it was around a month ago.”

“But, this does not mean we get complacent and stop preparing. This virus is totally unpredictable. It is possible that the cases suddenly spike again. Some experts are saying in social media that Delhi has already seen its peak and now the cases will only decline. I request all of you not to pay attention to these experts at the moment. Keep wearing masks, follow social distancing and keep washing or sanitising your hands,” he said.