Delhi’s COVID-19 tally increased to 1.27 lakh on July 23, while the death toll mounted to 3,745.
With Delhi recording 1,041 fresh COVID-19 cases on July 23, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government is providing plasma for free for coronavirus patients and people do not need to buy or sell it.
The tally of COVID-19 in the city rose to 1.27 lakh on July 23, while the death toll mounted to 3,745, authorities said.
"We are giving free plasma to people. We have more than 500 plasma samples as stock in ILBS Hospital. What is the need of selling and buying plasma if the government is providing plasma for free? People do not need to buy plasma because all plasma blood groups are available there," Kejriwal said.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on July 22 said strict action will be taken if it is found that monetary transaction was done during the process of plasma donation for any COVID-19 patient.
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On July 20, the fresh cases count had dipped to 954, and it increased the next day to 1,349.
Twenty-six coronavirus-related fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the Delhi Health Department bulletin on July 23.
The number of active cases stood at 14,554, a marginal decline from 14,594, the previous day.
On June 23, the national capital had reported the highest single-day spike of 3,947 new cases.
From July 11 to 19, fresh cases were reported in the range of 1,000-2,000 daily. On July 19, 1,211 fresh cases were reported.
According to the bulletin, the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 3,745 and the total number of cases mounted to 1,27,364. A total of 1.09, lakh patients have either recovered, migrated or have been discharged.
The national capital has conducted 8.89 lakh tests till now. A total of 12,465 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the last 24 hours while 5,761 RT-PCR tests were conducted during the same duration, the bulletin said.
The number of containment zones stands at 704.
A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary regarding creation of air bubbles for international travel, arrangements for incoming international passengers and for deployment of additional health personnel for triage in the arrival area and for health checkup in the departure area, the bulletin said.
In a related development, the case of a Delhi policeman having a relapse of the novel coronavirus has baffled experts and the doctors treating him and has raised the question whether a recovered patient can contract the infection again.
Experts suspect that the first time he got a positive result, it could have been a false positive and also opined that it could be a case of reinfection since he did not have antibodies.
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