The COVID-19 situation in the Capital seemed to be improving over the last few days, however, given the unpredictability of the novel coronavirus, there was no room for complacency, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said here on Wednesday.
At this time, across its hospitals, 5,800 beds were occupied byCOVID-1 patients even as the city was prepared with 15,000 beds, the percentage of patients getting cured had reached 66% and the daily number of cases was also reducing, Mr. Kejriwal said.
“On June 3, there were 3,950 new cases; yesterday [Tuesday] there were around 2,200; even the number of daily cases seems to be reducing by half,” he said.
According to Mr. Kejriwal, deaths due to the pandemic had reduced from the daily average of 125 to around 60-65 and the number of patients testing positive had gone down to 13 from 31 out of every 100 tests conducted.
“The situation now seems to be under control; it is not as bad as it was predicted, or thought of, a month ago. But this doesn’t mean that things should completely go back to the way they were, that the government should open everything up again.”
teractive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India
This virus was unpredictable and one could not guess what turn it would take the next day. Social media posts by purported activists also needed to be avoided for the time being.
While the government would do everything needed to keep the situation under control, and the situation around the pandemic had reached the same proportions it had seen “a month ago”, this was not the time for overconfidence or complacency, the Chief Minister said.
“There are experts commenting on social media that Delhi’s peak has come and gone; I would like to say that these comments should not be depended upon completely. We must continue social distancing, wearing masks.”
“That the situation in Delhi has returned to the way it was a month ago is the result of sustained efforts by everyone together; but, despite that, we must hope for the best but continue to be prepared for the worst,” he said.