 "coronavirus")
Delhi reported 299 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a jump of 118 per cent from the daily count recorded two days ago, while the positivity rate stood at 2.49 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
The Covid positivity rate in Delhi has jumped from 0.5 per cent to 2.70 per cent in a week, even as doctors on Tuesday said it was "not a panic situation" as the daily cases count was still low but cautioned against dropping the guard.
The daily spike of 299 new cases on Wednesday was a marked rise from 137 cases reported on Monday, according to the health department data.
No fatality due to the disease was recorded on Wednesday.
The health department did not issue a bulletin on Tuesday.
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On Monday, the positivity rate was 2.70 per cent -- the highest in two months. The positivity rate was at 2.87 per cent on February 5.
With an uptick in daily cases and a significant rise in the positivity rate over the last few days, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said the city government was keeping a watchful eye on the COVID-19 situation and there was no reason to worry until a new variant of concern is detected.
The national capital's COVID-19 tally on Wednesday stood at 18,66,881 and the death toll at 26,158, the latest bulletin stated.
The capital had on Sunday reported 141 cases and one death, while the positivity rate stood at 1.29 per cent.
It saw 160 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 1.55 per cent on Saturday.
On Friday, the city had reported 146 cases with a positivity rate of 1.39 per cent and one death.
The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28,867 on January 13 this year during the third wave of the pandemic.
The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave of the pandemic which was largely driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant of coronavirus.
As many as 504 COVID-19 patients are in home isolation in the capital, the bulletin stated.
There are 9,745 beds for COVID-19 patients in Delhi hospitals and 43 (0.44 per cent) of them are occupied, it said.
This is not a panic situation, however, there is a need to be vigilant and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, Dr Richa Sareen, consultant of pulmonology at Fortis Hospital had said on Tuesday.
While being critical of the city government's recent move to remove the mask mandate, the doctor said, it was not a "static decision" and if the situation warrants, the rules can again be changed.
According to several doctors, vaccination and herd immunity has "certainly provided a level of protection" to people.
Dr Suranjit Chatterjee, senior consultant, internal medicine, Apollo Hospital, cautioned that while daily cases have been rising, a "sense of complacency has set in among the masses" in general, especially after the mask mandate was removed.
"I do not foresee any new wave as long as we remain cautious, follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and wear mask while being outside, especially in crowded places," he said.
"But, I am seeing visuals on the internet and reports that people are gathering in large numbers and not many are wearing mask which would mean that cases could further rise," he added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
