Huge spike, 923 cases in 24 hrs

‘Yellow alert’ to continue, no further Covid curbs: DDMA

Delhi on Wednesday logged 923 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest since May 30 and almost double the number of infections recorded the previous day, according to health department data. The positivity rate climbed to 1.29 per cent from 0.89 per cent on Tuesday. No fresh fatality was reported, the bulletin stated.

On May 30, Delhi had recorded 946 Covid-19 cases and 78 deaths with a positivity rate of 1.25 per cent. On Tuesday, the city saw 496 Covid-19 cases and one fatality due to the disease. A total of 71,696 Covid-19 tests were conducted the previous day, the bulletin said. There are 2,191 active cases in the national capital. Of these, 1,068 patients are in home isolation, it said.

The DDMA on Wednesday decided that Covid-related restrictions imposed in Delhi under the ‘yellow alert’ will continue for the time being and authorities will monitor the situation for a while before deciding on fresh curbs, official sources said. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Lt-Governor Anil Baijal, who is also the chairperson of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. It was attended by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and experts.

The DDMA on Tuesday declared a ‘yellow alert’ under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the city amid a spike in coronavirus cases following the emergence of the virus’ Omicron variant. The ‘yellow alert’ entails restrictions like night curfew, closure of schools and colleges, opening of shops selling non-essential items on an odd-even basis, halved seating capacity in Metro trains and buses, among other things.

The DDMA has decided that curbs imposed under the ‘yellow alert’ will continue in the national capital for now, the sources said. The authorities are in favour of monitoring the situation for some more time and to avoid imposing further restrictions under ‘amber alert’, they said. An ‘amber alert’ is declared when the positivity rate is recorded at one per cent or above for two consecutive days.

“It was discussed that most Covid cases are asymptomatic and mild and there are fewer hospitalisations, which indicates that the situation is not that bad,” a source said.

In case the situation worsens, emergency measures may be imposed, the sources said.