JOIN USDelhi likely to report 10,000 Covid-19 cases today: Satyendar Jain
Delhi is likely to report around 10,000 Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, with the daily positivity rate rising to nearly 10 per cent, Heath Minister Satyendar Jain said in a briefing.
The third wave of Covid-19 has set in, he said.
He said the Delhi government had been sending samples of all Covid-19 patients for genome sequencing to determine if the Omicron variant had spread in the country.
"It was just an academic exercise... Now we know that Omicron has spread in the country, only 300-400 samples are being sent for genome sequencing," Jain said.
There are around 15,000 active cases in Delhi and only 14 patients are on ventilators. When the city saw an equal number of active cases last time, 20 times more patients were on ventilator support, he said in response to a question.
The minister said testing for Covid-19 has been increased and around 90,000 tests have been conducted on Tuesday.
Latest government data showed the number of patients in hospitals in Delhi has increased from 247 on January 1 to 531 on January 4. In the last three days, the number of patients on oxygen support has increased from 94 to 168 and those on ventilators from four to 14.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had earlier said his government is ready to handle up to one lakh Covid cases a day in a worst-case scenario.
The city government has activated a Covid war room which will maintain district and hospital-wise data about bed occupancy, patients, oxygen etc, Jain added.
The Delhi government on Tuesday announced a weekend curfew and work from home for its offices as the city recorded 5,481 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest number since May 16, with a positivity rate of 8.37 percent and three fatalities.
During the weekend curfew that will come into force at 10 pm on Friday and will be in place till 5 am on Monday to tackle a surge in Covid-19 driven by Omicron, all essential services will be allowed in the national capital. Along with weekend curfew, night curfew will also continue to be in place during weekdays.
India on Wednesday recorded over a massive spike of 58,000 Covid-19 cases, highest since June last year and 534 fatalities -- sending several state authorities in panic mode.