Delhi records highest spike in Covid- 19 cases in 71 days
Situation under control, spike due to increased testing: CM
Amid a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in Delhi, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said that there is no need to panic as the situation is completely under control. The city on Saturday recorded its highest single- day spike in coronavirus cases in over two months. According to Delhi government health department data, 2,973 new coronavirus cases and 25 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the total to over 1.88 lakh. The city has reported 4,538 deaths. Out of total 1,88,193 patients, 19,870 are active while 1,73,785 patients have recovered. About 39,000 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.
Mr Kejriwal mentioned that in the last few days, the Corona cases in Delhi have slightly increased and some people have expressed concern over the same. “Yesterday, Delhi witnessed 2,914 Corona cases in the capital. I have spoken to many experts in the last few days, some say it is a second wave and some have opined against a
second wave. But if we keep all these technical things aside, I have inspected the situation, the preparations, and all the data related to Corona in the last few days. All I want to say is that there is no need to worry. The situation is under control,” he said.
He pointed out that Covid cases are rising as his government has doubled the testing from 20,000 to 40,000 in the city and has taken several steps to reduce
deaths due to the virus.
“The more we test, the more we find out about cases. In a way, we have launched a counter- attack on Covid,” he said.
Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal asserted that the number of cases is rising as the AAP government has doubled testing in the city. The data between August 15 and today shows that the fatality rate of Delhi is 1.4 per cent, which means that out of 100 infected people, one is losing their life. The fatality rate of the country is 1.7 per cent.
“Daily death rate in the city is not only the lowest in the country but also across the world. The fatality rate is 1.4 per cent, which is lower than the national rate, which lies at 1.7 per cent. Out of 14,000 Corona beds in hospitals, only 5,000 remain occupied out of which 1,600- 1,700 beds are assigned to residents of states other than Delhi,” he said.
Mr Kejriwal reiterated that there should be no scope of complacency during Corona and also said that more and more people should get tested. “I have been witnessing since the last few days that some people in Delhi are being complacent. They do not wear masks when getting out of their homes or follow social distancing in public places. This is not right. We have to go to work, earn a living, run the economy, and look after our family, but we should not be careless about Corona. We must wear masks and follow social distancing whenever we get out of our homes,” said the chief minister.