Delhi witnesses highest single-day Covid-19 spike since Jan 12
Delhi added 370 new cases of the disease on Wednesday, on the back of 71,153 new tests.
The national capital on Wednesday recorded its highest single-day Covid-19 spike since the third week of January, as the number of new infections and active cases in Delhi continued to inch up.
Delhi added 370 new cases of the disease on Wednesday, on the back of 71,153 new tests. The highest one-day spike in Delhi before this was on January 12, when the city added 386 infections. While the test positivity rate stayed below 1% for the 73rd day, it crept to 0.52%, marginally higher than 0.48% recorded the previous day.
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There were 1,900 active cases in the city as on Wednesday morning, a number that has inched up every day, with exceptions, since the third week of February.
The Capital’s Covid-19 graph has crawled upwards marginally, but steadily, since it recorded a then 292-day low of 94 new cases on February 16. Health experts have called for caution amid new waves of the pandemic in several states, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
For instance, the test positivity rate — which experts consider a crucial metric to assess the spread of a contagion in area — in Delhi has also hovered upwards since an all-time low of 0.17% on February 16.
To be sure, the Capital has also increased the number of tests conducted on a daily basis over the past week to ensure infections are tracked and the chances of spread minimised.
Over the past seven days, an average of 65,116 tests were conducted a day, up from 61,030 in the week before that, and 57,698 in the seven days ending on February 24.
Experts say regions showing a surge should expand vaccination coverage as fast as possible.
“...not just those at risk but everyone living in regions seeing a surge in cases should be immunised on a priority basis,” said Dr SK Sarin, director of the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) who headed the Delhi government’s first committee on controlling and managing Covid-19 infections.
The city also added three more deaths of the infection on Wednesday, taking the total toll in the state to 10,931.