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Delhi News Live Updates: Air quality remains in 'very poor' category
The air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the 'very poor' category on Thursday with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 387. Meanwhile, amid a rise in the number of Omicron cases, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a review meeting to assess the preparedness and management on Thursday. Delhi on Wednesday reported 125 new Covid-19 cases, the highest in last six months.Read Less
With the AQI at 344, the air quality of Gurugram is in the 'very poor' category.
The air quality in Noida remains in the 'critical' category for the second consecutive day with AQI at 525.
Air quality in Delhi remains in 'very poor' category
The air quality in the national capital continued to remain in the 'very poor' category on Thursday with an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 387. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR). the concentrations of PM 2.5 and PM 10 stood at 'very poor' category.
Airport line: High court asks Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to disclose money lying in accounts
Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to disclose money lying in its various bank accounts, to gauge how an arbitral award won by Reliance Infrastructure’s subsidiary company against the transport corporation can be enforced. READ MORE
Delhi: Not just cold, 33 families on GT Road also battle eviction scare
Rajesh, a blacksmith, is a worried man. He lives in Gadia Lohar Basti in Azadpur with his family of six. On December 13, the Public Works Department pasted a notice in his basti asking illegal occupants to vacate the encroached spaces on GT Karnal Road by December 21, failing which the agency would itself remove all encroachments. It warned that PWD would not be responsible for any damages incurred in the process. READ MORE
Combating the virus
Delhi waits for rain as AQI stays severe
Delhi’s air quality continued to remain in the ‘severe’ category for the second consecutive day on Wednesday with an air quality index (AQI) of 407. Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi, a system under the Union ministry of earth sciences, said significant improvement in the air quality was likely from December 27. The city is expected to receive rain on December 27 and 28 under the influence of a western disturbance.
Many new vends haven’t even started construction work due to local protests or because they are awaiting official inspection. While bigger restaurants had stocked adequately sensing such a scarcity, smaller outlets, daily events and individual consumers are having problems finding a brand or size of their choice.
Liquor store owner
Demand up in Delhi, but not liquor supply
The winter chill and the ebullience of the festive season both make people seek liquor at this time. But consumers have been left high and dry with 500 of the 850 new liquor stores yet to open following the transition to the new excise regime in the city. With even the stores that have opened not fully stocked, tipplers only have the choice of picking up a bottle from neighbouring Gurgaon or Noida.
Omicron concern: Arvind Kejriwal to hold review meet
Arvind Kejriwal is likely to discuss the preparations regarding a possible third wave of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant of the virus with cabinet ministers and officials. The meeting is also likely to see a discussion on hospital beds, medicines and home-isolation measures.
Delhi and Mumbai both had the busiest airports where hundreds of international travellers arrived daily. That was the reason behind the high number of cases in the two cities. Most Omicron patients were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms. We haven’t had to administer steroids, antiviral drugs or oxygen therapy to a single patient till date.
Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Lok Nayak Hospital
1 in 5 testing Covid positive at Delhi's IGI airport with Omicron variant
Nearly one out of every five travellers testing Covid-positive at IGI Airport is infected with the Omicron variant, tests conducted at Institute of Genomic and Integrative Biology (IGIB) show. IGIB is one of the lead labs where genome sequencing is being carried out to identify the variant responsible for Covid-19 in international travellers. A senior scientist said every day 15-20 samples were being sequenced at IGIB and nearly 20% were positive for the Omicron variant. READ MORE
Covid-19 beds in various hospitals
The largest number of Covid beds would be at Lok Nayak Hospital, which is also the biggest facility for treatment of such patients in the NCR. The hospital and a nearby Covid centre attached to it would have 2,200 beds, apart from 900 ICU beds. GTB Hospital in east Delhi would have 1,800 Covid beds, the second highest in the city, apart from 900 ICU beds.
37,000 Covid beds at disposal to tackle spike in Delhi
With cases of the Omicron variant growing, Delhi government has chalked out a plan to increase the number of beds for treating infected patients from around 9,000 now to 37,000, if required. Currently, only 2.3% of the ward beds and 1.4% of ICU beds reserved for treatment of Covid-19 patients are occupied. Delhi government has earmarked 19,225 beds, which includes Covid-19 beds in 15 of its own hospitals, apart from six hospitals of the municipal corporations and eight Covid Care Centres.
City hospitals say admissions due to Covid-19 have gone up.
In November-end, Lok Nayak hospital had only five Covid-19 patients admitted. Currently, this number has gone up to 64. Doctors say very few patients have severe symptoms, on the brighter side. In the last 22 days, the capital has recorded an average of 72 Covid-19 cases daily. This is the highest in the last four months
The genome sequencing capacity of the country, although is doing a brilliant job, needs to be enhanced so that every travel-related case and their contacts can be immediately traced. While it may not be possible to stop the new variant from spreading completely, preventive measures can help reduce transmission speed and, therefore, avoid a sudden burden on our healthcare infrastructure.
Dr N K Mehra, an honorary emeritus scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
At 125, Delhi reports highest new Covid cases in last 6 months
The capital on Wednesday recorded 125 new cases of Covid-19, the highest in the last six months. Earlier, on June 22, the city had recorded 134 cases of Covid-19. The cases of Covid-19 have been rising steadily in Delhi over the past three weeks and many public health specialists are linking it to the spread of the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.