Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on October 25 said the coronavirus situation in the national capital is contained, highlighting that daily rise in cases is currently at 4,000, compared to an expert panel's projection of 12,000-14,000 cases per day during the festive season.
The panel had reportedly suggested avoiding any major festive celebrations as they could prove to be 'super-spreader events'.
"Dr Paul expert committee had said due to cold and festive season, cases (per day) can spike up to 12,000-14,000 but right now it's around 4,000 so the situation is contained. We are focused on containment, contact tracing and isolation to tackle the situation," Jain said, according to news agency ANI.
According to a recent report by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) headed by Dr Paul, the onset of the festival season had potential to cause a daily surge of over 15,000 cases in Delhi over the next three months.
"Large gatherings are super-spreader events. They must be avoided. Coming festivals (Chhat, Puja, Dussehra, Deepavali, Eid, X-Mas and New year) pose a huge challenge in terms of pandemic control. It has been seen that Onam in Kerala and Ganesh Chaturthi in Maharashtra worsened the Covid-19 situation in those regions. This must not be allowed to happen in the national capital," the expert panel had said, according to reports.
"Our emerging gains in a reduction in cases will be reversed because of these festivities and the rush in markets/localities. Such a potentially avoidable setback will dent the image of not only the national capital but the country as well," the NCDC report had said, adding that these events should be kept "low-key" and "essentially centered around family".
Delhi on October 24 recorded 4,116 COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day spike in the last 35 days. This was also the second consecutive day when over 4,000 cases were recorded in the city. On October 23, 4,086 cases were recorded.
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