COVID-19: Delhi records over 7,000 cases for first time; government to augment beds

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time taking the tally to over 4.23 lakh on Friday, while the death toll rose to 6,833 with 64 more fatalities, authorities said.

The 7,178 fresh cases were diagnosed following the 58,860 tests conducted the previous day, while the positivity rate stood at 12.19 per cent amid the festive season and rising pollution in the city, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

The previous highest single-day spike till date here -- 6,842 cases -- was recorded on Wednesday.

The number of daily cases had crossed the 6,000-mark for three consecutive days from November 3-5.

On Friday, 64 new fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll in the national capital to 6,833.

On Thursday, 66 fatalities due to COVID-19 were reported.

The active cases tally on Friday stood at 39,722.

The bulletin said the total number of cases has climbed to 4,23,831.

The recovery rate on Friday was over 89 per cent, it said.

Meanwhile, Delhi government on Friday issued orders to augment the capacity of beds for COVID-19 patients by adding in total over 1,100 beds at various state-run and private facilities to "combat the third wave" of spread of infection.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain took a review meeting with all the medical directors and medical superintendents of COVID-19 hospitals.

Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev took a review meeting with all district magistrates on COVID-19 management, it said.

Additional Chief Secretary (Services) took a meeting with officials of the three municipal corporations and the New Delhi Municipal Council to review the pandemic situation.

The number of Rapid Antigen Tests conducted on Thursday stood at 43,194 while the RT-PCR, CBNAAT and True NAAT tests figures were 15,666 in all adding to 58,860, according to the bulletin The number of containment zones in Delhi increased to 3,754 from 3,684 on Thursday.

The sudden spike in cases comes amid the festive season and rising pollution levels.

While Durga Puja celebrations ended on October 25, the next festivals are Diwali and Chhath in November.

The National Centre for Disease Control in a report drafted recently had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 per day, taking into account the upcoming winter season-related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.

According to the Friday bulletin, out of the total number of 15,781 beds in COVID hospitals, 8,253 are vacant.

It said 618 beds in COVID care centres are occupied by persons under quarantine, including travellers who have returned by Vande Bharat Mission and bubble flights.

Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing in the past few days, with the count on several times crossing the 60,000-mark.

The number of tests done per million as on Thursday was over 2.6 lakh while the total number of tests stood at over 49 lakh.

The bulletin said 3,77,276 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far.

Since September, daily cases had begun to rise in the city.

From the last week of September, the daily numbers had started to come down a bit.

The number of people in home isolation rose to 23,679 compared to 23,411 the previous day.