On third consecutive day with 400+ cases, Delhi hits 9k mark
COVID SPIKE CONTINUES So far, 3,926 have recovered, leaving 5,278 active infections in the city
nNEWDELHI: The number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Delhi rose to 9,333 on Saturday with 438 infections recorded – the third consecutive day the fresh cases were over the 400-mark in the national capital – and with six more deaths taking the toll of 129.
The number of those who have recovered from the infectious disease in Delhi rose to 3,926, leaving 5,278 active infections in the city, a health bulletin released by the government showed.
The development came even as the government designated two more hospitals – Batra Hospital and Cygnus Orthocare Hospital – for treating Covid-19 patients and those suspected to have contracted the pathogen, taking the total number of dedicated Covid-19 hospitals to 13.
The number of containment zones in the national capital was 73, while the number of people who have been put in home quarantine was 1,983.
On the six deaths added to the official tally on Saturday a senior government official said: “All these deaths did not necessarily take place in the last 24 hours. There is a gap between occurrence of deaths and final report submitted by the Death Audit Committee. The toll recorded in the health bulletin reflects cases in which the primary cause of death is found to be Covid-19 by the committee.”
The committee goes through the case sheets, medical investigations, and the death summary of the deceased before classifying them as Covid-19 deaths. Till Saturday, the data showed, 130,845 individuals were tested for Covid-19 in Delhi and 2,571 were admitted in either hospitals, dedicated Covid Care Centres or quarantine centres.
On Friday, a report said that Delhi witnessed 443 “Covid funerals” – including both cremations and burials – since
March 14, which included confirmed Covid-19 deaths and those suspected to have been infected.
On Saturday, a Delhi government official dismissed the suggestion that the number of deaths from Covid-19 could be higher than the official figure. The official said that following the Covid-19 protocol is mandatory for all funerals in the Capital pertaining to death of individuals from any respiratory ailment, kidney or heart ailment, or those with flu-like symptoms shown immediately before death, irrespective of Covid-19 tests.
In March, the Delhi government had issued a standard operating protocol for Covid-19 funerals.
“The health minister was of the opinion that why take a chance? So, the ambit of the protocol was expanded to cover deaths beyond confirmed cases of Covid-19,” a senior official in the health minister’s office said on condition of anonymity.
A senior official in the Delhi chief minister’s office said on condition of anonymity: “The Death Audit Committee follows the guidelines prescribed by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) . All hospitals have been mandated to submit their death summaries to the committee within 24 hours. Death Audit Committee is an independent body which examines each of these cases. Delhi Health Bulletin reflects the figures as declared by the Committee.”
As states plan to exit the national lockdown and restricted travel resumes, social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands will be the only defence against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). With infections likely to rise after restrictions are relaxed and the anticipated second wave hitting the world, some amount of social distancing will have to continue through 2022, said Harvard researchers in the journal, Science, on Wednesday.
In India, even with states planning to move towards a staggered lifting of the lockdown, the number of cases will continue to rise because the absolute number of cases is high. How the outbreak evolves over the next few weeks will depend on the lessons learned so far from infection trends, including clustering. “You can’t police social distancing; people must learn to protect themselves. The acid test will be how we behave as we exit from the lockdown in the next few days,” said Dr Ambarish Dutta, associate professor of epidemiology and public health, Indian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar.
“Studies show infected people take on average five to six days to develop symptoms, but are infective from day one. Some people have no symptoms and others have mild disease, but still infect others. Lockdowns prevent undiagnosed infected people from stepping out and infecting others, but with less restricted travel, chances of exposure increase, so we need to be extremely cautious,” said Dutta.
As India prepares to loosen lockdown measures, knowing who is most at risk of infection is critical. India has finally begun population-level surveillance of random samples, with pool testing for current infection and antibody testing for past infection, to help guide policy and help people protect themselves.
The world’s first study on who is at risk of both infection and severe disease shows that older people, men, obese people, the poor, those living in densely populated areas, and people with chronic kidney disease are more likely to test