<p>The national capital has hit the peak of the third wave of COVID-19, and the number of cases suggests that it has been the worst since the pandemic arrived in the city, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Sunday.</p>.<p>He said the government had no plans yet to rope in hotels and banquet halls to augment the bed capacity for COVID-19 patients as the AAP dispensation had increased the number of beds in hospitals of Delhi.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-latest-updates.html" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>The national capital has been witnessing a fresh surge in coronavirus cases amid the festive season and rising air pollution.</p>.<p>On Friday, Delhi recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time. The city on Saturday reported 79 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in over four months.</p>.<p>Jain, who is on an official visit to Rajasthan's Dungarpur, said the first wave had hit its peak around June 23 and the second on September 17.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</strong></a></p>.<p>"The third wave of COVID-19 is at its peak in Delhi. The number of cases suggests it is the worst wave so far. But the cases will come down soon," Jain told reporters here.</p>.<p>Delhi reported its first case on March 1, when a businessman in East Delhi was diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning from Italy.</p>.<p>The minister cited aggressive testing and contact-tracing among reasons for the sudden spike in the number of cases being reported.</p>.<p>Jain, however, said laxity on the part of the people has also been a major reason behind the surge.</p>.<p>"Some people think nothing will happen to them if they don''t wear a mask. They are wrong. Mask is the only medicine for COVID-19 till a vaccine is developed," he added.</p>.<p>The National Centre for Disease Control, in a report drafted recently, had warned that Delhi needed to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh COVID-19 cases daily taking into account the winter season-related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.</p>.<p>On Friday, Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal had said that like the previous two waves of coronavirus, the third one would end soon in Delhi as he urged Delhiites to make wearing masks a movement to arrest the spread of COVID-19.</p>.<p>"Till there is a vaccine for corona, consider face masks as the vaccine. These are the biggest protection against COVID-19 infection. We need to promote wearing face masks as a movement," he had said.</p>.<p>The national capital on Saturday recorded 6,953 new cases of the infection.</p>.<p>Daily cases began rising in the city in September. It started to come down a bit by the last week.</p>.<p>The number of people in home isolation in the city stood at 24,100 on Saturday.</p>
<p>The national capital has hit the peak of the third wave of COVID-19, and the number of cases suggests that it has been the worst since the pandemic arrived in the city, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Sunday.</p>.<p>He said the government had no plans yet to rope in hotels and banquet halls to augment the bed capacity for COVID-19 patients as the AAP dispensation had increased the number of beds in hospitals of Delhi.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/coronavirus-live-news-covid-19-latest-updates.html" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>The national capital has been witnessing a fresh surge in coronavirus cases amid the festive season and rising air pollution.</p>.<p>On Friday, Delhi recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time. The city on Saturday reported 79 deaths, the highest number of fatalities in over four months.</p>.<p>Jain, who is on an official visit to Rajasthan's Dungarpur, said the first wave had hit its peak around June 23 and the second on September 17.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here</strong></a></p>.<p>"The third wave of COVID-19 is at its peak in Delhi. The number of cases suggests it is the worst wave so far. But the cases will come down soon," Jain told reporters here.</p>.<p>Delhi reported its first case on March 1, when a businessman in East Delhi was diagnosed with COVID-19 after returning from Italy.</p>.<p>The minister cited aggressive testing and contact-tracing among reasons for the sudden spike in the number of cases being reported.</p>.<p>Jain, however, said laxity on the part of the people has also been a major reason behind the surge.</p>.<p>"Some people think nothing will happen to them if they don''t wear a mask. They are wrong. Mask is the only medicine for COVID-19 till a vaccine is developed," he added.</p>.<p>The National Centre for Disease Control, in a report drafted recently, had warned that Delhi needed to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh COVID-19 cases daily taking into account the winter season-related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.</p>.<p>On Friday, Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal had said that like the previous two waves of coronavirus, the third one would end soon in Delhi as he urged Delhiites to make wearing masks a movement to arrest the spread of COVID-19.</p>.<p>"Till there is a vaccine for corona, consider face masks as the vaccine. These are the biggest protection against COVID-19 infection. We need to promote wearing face masks as a movement," he had said.</p>.<p>The national capital on Saturday recorded 6,953 new cases of the infection.</p>.<p>Daily cases began rising in the city in September. It started to come down a bit by the last week.</p>.<p>The number of people in home isolation in the city stood at 24,100 on Saturday.</p>