Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday urged people not to get tired of wearing masks till a vaccine for COVID-19 is available. Jain also said that aggressive contact tracing was the primary reason behind the spike in new cases.
"Some people are tired of wearing masks. They are fatigued. I urge them to continue wearing masks, do not get tired of it," he said. "It has been around nine months already. I hope a vaccine will be available in another two to three months. Till then, continue wearing marks," Jain said.
The health minister said earlier authorities were tracing and conducting tests on around six to seven close contacts of a positive case. The number is now over 15.
"The number of new cases is increasing, but this only because we are doing aggressive contact tracing," he said. Jain said the out of 2,900 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds reserved for COVID-19 patients across Delhi, around 1,200 ICU beds were unoccupied.
Delhi recorded 5,062 fresh cases on Saturday, taking the infection tally in the city to over 3.86 lakh. The positivity rate jumped to nearly 11.5 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city. It was the fourth consecutive day when over 5,000 cases were reported.