Delhi records around 5,500 new covid cases, 3 deaths
According to the health department’s bulletin, 5,481 fresh cases of Covid-19 – the highest since May 16 last year, on Tuesday registered a growth of 8.37 per cent in Delhi with the positivity rate. Three people died of the infection in the last 24 hours. Today’s fresh cases took the number of active cases in the city to 14,889.
The national capital had recorded 6,456 fresh Covid-19 cases and 262 deaths on May 16 last year. The positivity rate at that time was 10.4 percent. Tuesday’s positivity rate is the highest since May 17, when it stood at 8.42 per cent.
Delhi has seen a spurt in Covid-19 cases in recent times. The resurgence triggered by the new highly-permeable Omicron variant prompted the government to impose a weekend curfew and work from home for offices, among other measures to flatten the curve.
According to the Health Department, a total of 531 patients are currently admitted in various hospitals, out of which 41 are suspected to have the disease. 14 patients are on ventilator support, while 168 patients with moderate symptoms are on oxygen support. 8,593 people are in home isolation. There are currently over 8,500 hospital beds vacant in the city.
The Health Department said that 1.85 lakh vaccine doses were given in the last 24 hours. In this, 92,928 beneficiaries were vaccinated with the first dose and 92,667 with the second dose. The cumulative dosage provided so far in the national capital is 2,66,57,832 (1,53,59,453 with the first dose and 1,12,98,379) with the second dose.
Earlier today, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia while addressing an online press conference said that there will be curfew on Saturday and Sunday and requested people to step out only when absolutely necessary.
He said that during working days, government employees, except those engaged in essential services, would be asked to work from home, while private offices would remain open with 50 per cent capacity. He said that buses and metros will run with their full seating capacity throughout the week as the government feared that once the seating capacity is halved, bus stops and metro stations may become super spreaders and long queues can be seen at such places. .
On December 28, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had declared a ‘yellow alert’ after the positivity rate crossed the 0.5 per cent mark, and closed cinemas and gyms.
Read more: Weekend Curfew imposed in Delhi; Metro and buses will run with full capacity
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