COVID/Omicron Scare: Delhi registers 1313 new Covid cases, 42% jump
Delhi continue to see a steep rise in Covid cases
Mumbai records 45% hike in new cases
New Delhi, Dec. 30 (Delhi Crown): Delhi reported as many as 1313 new Covid cases on Thursday, which is over 42% hike as compared to the cases reported on Wednesday.
The national capital had recorded 923 infections yesterday.
The positivity rate too jumped to 1.73% on Thursday.
Besides, 423 patients fully recovered and were discharged from hospitals in the past 24 hours.
Till evening the number of Active Cases in the national capital stand at 3,081.
Meanwhile, over 13,000 new cases were registered across the country on Thursday.
Reacting to the sudden spurt in cases, the Centre said that the increase could be a part of the global rise pushed by Omicron variant cases, as India in the last 24 hours reported 13,154 new Covid cases and the Omicron tally of the country stands at 961.
“There is an uptick which has been witnessed in the last few days, as India’s daily cases jumped from around 6,000 on Tuesday to around 9,000 Wednesday to over 13,000 on Thursday,” NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul was quoted as saying.
He said – “The present R-value in India is 1.22 which means cases are increasing and not shrinking. Deaths are stable in India as of now which is reassuring. It could be part of the global rise in cases pushed by Omicron, we believe. We are updating you on available information. It takes time to identify the variant. We will continue to update you on the specifics of this.”
Omicron is a highly transmissible variant that perhaps explains the speed of the rise in the cases. The severity issue of the variant is unsettled. Hopefully, it remains mild but can’t be taken for granted, added Dr. Paul.
Earlier, in a press briefing, the Union Health Ministry noted that the world was “going through the fourth wave of the pandemic”.
In the last few days, the situation has changed, the ministry noted. “There is no need to panic as India has the massive shield of very high coverage of vaccines,” Dr Paul said.
As it is believed that this surge is the “beginning of the third wave” in the country, Dr Paul said, “The situation is emerging. Where it will go is in our hands and we should not allow the cases to go up.”
