The daily COVID-19 cases continued to rise unabated in Delhi on January 7. The national capital has registered 17,335 new cases in the last 24 hours. The tally is close to what the city had seen at the peak of the second COVID wave, when on May 8, 2021, 17,364 cases were reported with a positivity rate of 23.34 percent. The current positivity rate stands at 17.73 percent.
Nine people have died due to the virus in the last 24 hours, bringing the death tally to 25,136 since March 2020. The tally of active cases in Delhi stands at 39,873 with a case fatality rate of 1.67 percent.
In terms of healthcare facilities, the national capital as of the evening of January 7 has 11,922 vacant hospital beds, 3,953 vacant COVID care centres, and 157 vacant COVID health care centres.
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The total number of patients admitted to the hospital is 1,390 out of which 1,313 are COVID-positive and the rest 77 are suspected of the virus. While 996 or 75.85 percent of patients are mild cases without any oxygen support, 286 (21.78 percent) are moderate cases on oxygen support and 31 (2.36 percent) patients are severe cases on ventilator support.
The figures that came in today are quite similar to what Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain had predicted earlier in the day. He had said that the city is expecting around 17,000 cases with a positivity rate of around 17 percent.
He said Delhi is the first to witness a surge in infections because most of the international flights come to the capital. "That is the reason we have implemented stricter measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 as compared to other states. Some people may say that this is not needed but it is better than repenting later,” Jain told reporters.
With regards to COVID curbs, the Delhi government on Friday implemented the weekend curfew will be in force in Delhi from 10 pm on Friday to 5 am on Monday. All markets, malls will be shut over the weekend and only shops selling essential commodities will be allowed to be open. Check out the full list of what's allowed and what's not here.
Taking cognisance of the situation in Delhi, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has asked Delhi and neighbouring districts to immediately strengthen health infrastructure, maintain buffer stocks of essential drugs and ensure that oxygen supply equipment is fully functional.
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