Delhi case count over 1k; 33 zones now under watch

NEWDELHI: Five people died due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the Capital on Saturday and the total number of infections crossed 1,000, making Delhi the second state after Maharashtra and the second city after Mumbai to cross the four-digit mark for positive patients.

The number of new cases on Saturday was lower than Friday, when the city recorded its highest single-day jump in infections, driven largely by new patients who had been to the Nizamuddin area building of the Tablighi Jamaat, a religious group. The total number of infections now stands at 1,069.

The government’s daily health bulletin did not give details of how many new cases were from the Nizamuddin cluster on Saturday, but added a new classification – “under special operations” – that accounted for 128 of the 166 new cases.Officials said the total “special operations” cases (712) included people who were either present in the Nizamuddin gatherings or their contacts.

Among the five deaths, four were patients above the age of 60 — a 79-year-old woman from Karol Bagh, a 60-year-old woman from Sadar Bazar, a 65-year-old man from Azad Market, and a 68-year-old man from Tamil Nadu -- with comorbid conditions such as kidney disease, heart disease, and hypertension. The fifth was a 44-year-old woman from Malkaganj with no known underlying health condition.

Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in the Capital leaves no room for lifting the lockdown – the nationwide curbs are scheduled to last till April 14 – and letting people move freely would lead to an “explosion of cases”.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal conveyed this position to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a video conference along with CMs from other states. The PM is likely to make an announcement on the matter soon.

The Capital also added three more containment zones, taking the total number of areas with a hard lockdown to 33. Varying from as small as buildings to entire neighbourhood blocks, these are areas where people are not allowed to go outdoors and all essential needs are home-delivered by administration officials.

The new containment zone were in south district’s Deoli area, west Delhi’s Mansoravar Garden in Rajouri, and north Delhi’s Jahangirpuri. In Deoli, eight cases were detected. Officials did not give details about the other two zones.

THE CAPITAL ALSO ADDED THREE MORE CONTAINMENT ZONES, TAKING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF AREAS WITH A HARD LOCKDOWN TO 33.