Asserting that the national capital was facing a "very serious" situation in the ongoing "more dangerous" fourth Covid-19 wave, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said on Sunday that the daily New infections tally hit a record 10,732 in the last 24 hours. The surge in Covid-19 cases this time is “worse than what Delhi saw during the third round peak”.
Before this, the highest ever daily tally was recorded on November 11 at 8,593 infections.
On Saturday, the number of Covid-19 cases reported stood at 7,897 cases in the past 24 hours.
"Today, in a 24-hour span, Delhi recorded 10,732 cases. This will be published in the Health bulletin which will be released in the evening. This shows how rapidly Covid-19 has spread in the national capital”, Kejriwal said at a press conference.
“Till mid-March, Delhi was reporting less than 200 new cases of the infection in a 24-hour span. Yesterday, it recorded 7,897 new cases. Before that, the number was over 8,500”.
He highlighted that over 65 per cent of Covid-19 cases in the capital are below 45 years and reiterated that the Centre must remove existing restrictions so that people of all ages can get inoculated.
Although the situation was serious, Kejriwal however ruled out any lockdown and noted that this was not the solution for the pandemic. He pointed out new restrictions including 50 per cent cap in occupancy in restaurants, cinema halls and multiplexes have been announced on Saturday.
“Iam not in favour of a lockdown, don’t believe that is a solution. Lockdown should be imposed only when a State’s healthcare system and facilities collapse. That is not the situation in Delhi”, he said.
He urged Delhites not to go out of their homes unless very urgent and added that Delhi government was now ready to do door-to-door campaign for vaccination.
Kejriwal also said that his government was focused on hospital management and pointed out that government hospitals had done a good job in the last three years. “Don’t run towards private hospitals...the beds are less there. Please go to government hospitals. Those who are asymptomatic must home isolate”, he said.