Virus continues its onslaught in Metros

NEW DELHI: India’s daily tally of new infections of Covid-19 stopped just short of the 200,000 mark on Wednesday. India reported 199,506 cases on Wednesday, according to HT’s Covid-19 dashboard, taking total number of infections in the country to 14,070,831. A total of 1,036 new deaths were lodged across the country on Wednesday, for a toll of 173,170.

The number of new infections in Delhi soared past previous records with an alarming 17,282 cases recorded in a single day. In Delhi, the test positivity rate – a crucial proxy for outbreak severity – was 15.92%, higher than it had been in the city’s last two waves, bringing yet more signs that the crisis has taken an unprecedented turn and may now require stringent curbs. Over the last two weeks, new cases in Delhi have increased by 586%, and the city now has over 50,000 active cases – the most it has ever had – in what may turn into an unmanageable situation threat for the health care capacity. Experts believe the curbs announced last week may have come too late, and the Capital may have little option but to enter a circuit-breaker lockdown in which non-essential activities are temporarily barred.

Apart from Delhi, the onslaught of the virus was particularly evident metros such as Chennai and Bengaluru, with these cities setting new record for daily infections on Wednesday, even as Mumbai, India’s worst-hit urban centre, went under a 15-day curfew.

A record 8,155 new cases were reported in Bengaluru on Wednesday, while Chennai also set an all-time record with 2,564 new cases. In Mumbai, 9,931 new cases were reported on Wednesday as the city, along with the state of Maharashtra, entered a curfew until the end of April to battle the expanding outbreak. The state, which accounts for about a quarter of the country’s total coronavirus cases, reported 58,952 new infections on Wednesday.

Nationally, the number of cases on Wednesday continued a sharp increase from the 185,287 reported on Tuesday, which itself was an all-time single-day record.