Union Home Ministry to meet Delhi officials as COVID-19 cases see another spike in capital

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Delhi reported the highest single-day rise of 5,891 COVID-19 cases on October 30, pushing the tally of coronavirus infections in the national capital to above 3.81 lakh. The positivity rate also shot up to nearly 10 percent in the city, as air pollution spikes and crowds grow due to the festival season.

To chalk out measures to contain surging coronavirus cases, the Union Home Ministry will hold a review meeting with Delhi government officials on October 31, Hindustan Times reported sources as saying.

The meeting will be chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul and other senior officials will also attend the meeting, the report said.

Bhushan had on October 29 reviewed the coronavirus situation in West Bengal, Kerala and Delhi.

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The review meeting on the status of the infection in Delhi was held in the presence of VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, and Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR.

"There has been a nearly 46 percent increase in new cases over the past four weeks. The rising cases were attributed by the Delhi team to social gatherings during the festivities, the deteriorating air quality, increasing incidences of respiratory disorders and clusters of positive cases at workplaces," said a statement issued by Union Health Ministry.

Read: Social gatherings in festivities, poor air quality among reasons for COVID-19 cases rise in Delhi: Govt

Delhi was advised to aggressively ramp up testing, increase RT-PCR tests, focus on contact tracing and effectively enforce isolation of the traced contacts within the first 72 hours.

As per the latest bulletin, the total number of cases in Delhi has climbed to 3,81,644, while the death toll mounted to 6,470 with 47 new fatalities on October 30. Delhi has 32,363 active cases of COVID-19 at present.