The Capital on Friday reported 5,891 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours — another single-day peak —, according to a heath bulletin by the Delhi government.
Moreover, 47 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The bulletin stated that 4,433 recoveries were reported and 59,641 tests were conducted with a positivity rate of 9.99%. There are 32,363 active cases in the Capital. The total number of cases now stands at 3,81,644 with 6,470 deaths and 3,42,811 recoveries.
The number of cases has been spiking here for three consecutive days with 5,739 cases reported on Thursday, 5,673 on Wednesday and 4,853 on Tuesday.
3,158 containment zones
The number of containment zones has risen to 3,158 from 3,113 on Thursday and 19,064 patients are under home isolation, the bulletin added.
Also, out of the 15,749 available hospital beds, 9,645 were vacant and out of 7,887 beds at dedicated COVID Care Centres, 968 were occupied. At the dedicated COVID-19 health centers that have 527 beds, 201 are vacant.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who had attributed the rising figures to an increase in testing of even asymptomatic patients, on Friday reiterated the importance of wearing face mask.
“People should wear masks as a vaccine till there is one. The spread of the virus can be stopped to a large extent if everyone wears a mask,” Mr. Jain said, adding that it is more beneficial than a lockdown.
Despite the rising cases, L-G Anil Baijal approved the government’s proposal to allow buses to run with full seating capacity. Buses had been running with a maximum of 20 passengers so that social distancing could be maintained. The government, had on October 23, sought permission for full seating without any passenger standing on buses as busstops in the city has started to witness long queues as a result of reduced capacity. Now, a bus will be able to accommodate 40- 45 passengers.