Amid the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Monday pointed out that people need to remain alert and said strict action will be taken against citizens for not wearing masks.
“There is a need to remain alert and wear masks all the time," he told reporters on Monday adding, "Strict action is being taken against those found without a mask and violating social distancing norms." He also urged people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour during the Holi on March 28-29.
The health minister also pointed out that government hospitals in Delhi are considering staggered timings for OPD patients in view of the increase in COVID-19 cases.
On Sunday, the city reported over 800 cases for the second day. Currently, the active cases stand at 3,618. The positivity rate remains at over 1% for the second consecutive day, according to a bulletin.
The 823 new infections have pushed the COVID tally in the national capital to 6,47,984, whereas 6.32 lakh patients have recovered from the virus. There were 813 new cases on Saturday, 716 on Friday, 607 on Thursday, 536 on Wednesday and 425 on Tuesday, according to official data.
Sunday's daily-case count is the highest in nearly three months. On December 24, 1,063 more people were infected with the virus. On January 1, 585 people were afflicted with the disease. The caseload in Delhi on January 1 had stood at over 6.25 lakh and the total fatalities were 10,557.
The number of daily cases had started to come down in February. On February 26, the month's highest daily count of 256 cases was recorded. However, the daily cases have begun to rise again in March and it has been steadily increasing over the past few days.
Amidst the recent surge, Jain said on Sunday that the Delhi government has been conducting aggressive testing and contact tracing, and the recent spike in fresh coronavirus cases will also be contained soon.
(With inputs from agencies)
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