Delhi saw 7,745 new cases on Sunday — the highest number of daily cases reported so far by any city. (Express file photo by Amit Mehra)Delhi saw 7,745 new cases on Sunday — the highest number of daily cases reported so far by any city. This takes the total number of cases in the city to 4,38,529 while the death toll rose to 6,989 with 77 fatalities. The city performed 50,754 tests in the last 24 hours, recording a positivity rate of 15.26%.
Over the last two weeks, the number of active Covid-19 cases has increased by more than 16,000 — the highest ever in the last six months — owing to the rising number of daily infections. Last week alone, Delhi reported over 6,000 daily cases, barring Monday (November 2) which saw 4,000 cases.
As of October 26, the city had 25,786 active cases which soared to 41,857 by Sunday. Active cases reflect the number of people who are presently infected with the disease.
Of the total active cases, 24,723 patients are under home isolation while 8,072 are availing treatment in hospitals.
With an increase in the number of daily cases, the pressure on the healthcare system as well as district officials tracking cases of home isolation has also doubled. While the demand for hospital beds has spiked in the last few days, cases of home isolation have also gone up.
There were 16,396 patients under home isolation on October 26, which increased to 24,723 as of Sunday — a jump of more than 8,300 more patients.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been attributing the rise in daily cases to aggressive contact tracing and ramped up testing facilities. The state government also said officials are now tracking almost 15-20 contacts of each person who has tested positive for Covid-19. The number was earlier limited to three-four contacts.
“The pressure has definitely gone up. With the government focusing on aggressive contact tracing, it has been directed to trace almost each contact of those who tested positive. But, we have been doing this for almost eight months now; with a rise in the number of cases, it is becoming difficult for all of us,” said a senior district official.