India: Delhi government closely watching Covid-19 situation

The Delhi government is closely monitoring the coronavirus situation and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will hold a review meeting on the matter on Friday, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

Bharadwaj also assured people that there was no need to panic since the hospitalisation rate was low. He was speaking after holding a meeting on Thursday to review the Covid-19 situation in the national capital amid a spurt in cases. The meeting saw the attendance of senior health department officials, medical directors of state-run hospitals, epidemiologists and virologists.

"We reviewed the situation. We have asked hospitals to advise coronavirus tests to those who are symptomatic. People visiting hospitals should wear masks," he said.

The minister said the health department will brief Kejriwal on Friday on the situation following which he will issue directions to the government.

"The chief minister will also be briefed about the Covid situation in other states and how they are tackling the rise in cases," he added.

Bharadwaj also said genome sequencing of samples is also being carried out and nothing worrisome has been found till now. The meet came a day after Delhi's Covid-19 cases climbed to 300 for the first time since August 31 last year, while the positivity rate rose to 13.89 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.  Two Covid-related deaths were also reported on Wednesday.

Sharing details, the health minister said they were elderly patients who had comoribidities and the primary cause of death was not coronavirus.

Delhi had reported 377 cases on August 31 last along with two fatalities, while the positivity rate was 2.58 per cent. The city has been witnessing an increase in the number of daily Covid cases over the last few days amid a sharp rise in H3N2 influenza cases in the country.  The number of fresh cases had seen a decline over the last few months in Delhi. It had dropped to zero on January 16, the first time since the pandemic broke out.  With the fresh cases, Delhi's infection tally has increased to 20,09,361, while the death toll stands at 26,526.

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