Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain confirmed today that while the second wave of Covid is still very much on, the national capital is past the peak and the number of cases and the positivity rate are both on their way down. “But you cannot get to the comfort zone right now. The infection rate has to fall below 5 per cent and the corona cases should be below 3 or 4 thousand,” he told reporters.
Delhi has recorded 12,481 COVID-19 cases and 347 deaths over the last 24 hours, the positivity rate has dropped from 19 per cent to 17.7 per cent. This is the lowest since April 14 when the positivity rate was around 36 per cent.
Mr Jain said hospital beds are still in high demand in Delhi. “Corona has 23,000 beds in Delhi, of which 20,000 have patients, which is a big thing. In the last corona wave, the maximum 9,500 corona patients were admitted in the hospitals in a day. And in this wave, the figure has reached 22,000,”he added.
Still, the demand for oxygen from hospitals has reduced already, he said. There was a rider”: “If the quota of oxygen continues, it will be fine or else it will be a problem. Delhi is getting less than its 700 metric tonne quota,” he added.
On the question of the number of Covid tests sliding, Mr Jain said about 80,000 tests are being conducted in Delhi every day. Testing is being done in all government hospitals. Some drop in numbers is because of the lockdown effect, he added.
Earlier today, opening a 500-bed facility at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said there will no longer be any shortage of ICU or oxygen beds in Delhi.
As it struggled with the second wave of Covid that brought hospitals to their knees with a crippling shortage of beds, oxygen and drugs, the city was placed under a strict lockdown, which has now been extended till 5 am on Monday.