With biggest single-day spike, Delhi Covid cases cross 8,000
SURGE With 472 cases, the city’s tally now stands at 8,470. Earlier, the highest single-day increase was 448 on May 7
nNEW DELHI: Delhi saw its highest single-day spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases so far, with 472 recorded on Thursday. The surge takes the city’s Covid-19 tally to 8,470, according to Delhi’s daily health bulletin.
Before this, the highest number of cases recorded in a single day was 448, on May 7.
Delhi breached the highest single-day spike in case numbers for the fourth time in May on Thursday. From just over 3,500 Covid-19 cases recorded till April-end, the numbers have shot up with nearly 4,500 cases being recorded in the city in just 14 days.
With lockdown curbs being relaxed after May 3 , when its second phase ended, and further easing expected after May 17, experts said they expected the number of cases to rise even further.
“The numbers will go up as more people move about. Even the lockdown has not been very effective in curtailing the spread of the infection in congested areas. If you see the slums or redevelopment colonies, there are several people living in one room. They will step out in the summers. The chance of spread owing to the use of community toilets is very high as well,” the official added.
Health care workers and patients going to hospitals continue to be another group at a higher risk of infection. “There are several health care workers and patients and their families who have visited the hospitals who are testing positive. This is still a major concern in the city,” said another district official on condition of anonymity.
At least 500 health care workers in Delhi have tested positive for Covid-19 so far.
Nine more deaths have been added to Delhi’s cumulative Covid-19 toll, taking the total to 115, according to the daily health bulletin released by the Delhi government. However, none of these were recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the report.
The revised toll still puts the city’s mortality rate at 1.3%.
A three-member death audit committee has been reviewing case sheets and death summaries, and adding the numbers to the daily report.
A discrepancy in the number of deaths recorded in the daily bulletin and those reported from individual hospitals was highlighted last week, after which the government instituted new standard operating procedures (SOP) for dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, asking them to report their deaths by 5pm each day or face action.
The government has also removed a hospital-wise break-up of deaths from its bulletin.
“The committee is working on clearing the backlog of cases within this week, after which there shouldn’t be an unusual spike in the number of deaths. The new SOP has certainly helped in speeding up the process,” said a senior official from the Delhi government.