Dungarpur / New Delhi
The national capital has hit the peak of the third wave of Covid-19, and the number of cases suggests it has been the worst since the pandemic arrived in the city, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Sunday.
He said the government had no plans yet to rope in hotels and banquet halls to augment the bed capacity for Covid-19 patients as the AAP dispensation had increased the number of beds in hospitals of Delhi. The national capital has been witnessing a fresh surge in coronavirus cases amid the festive season and rising air pollution.
On Friday, Delhi saw 7,000+ cases for the first time. The city on Saturday reported 7,745 fresh case and 79 deaths, highest in 4 months.
Jain, who is on an official visit to Rajasthan’s Dungarpur, said the first wave had hit its peak around June 23 and the second on September 17. “The third wave of Covid-19 is at its peak in Delhi. The number of cases suggests it is the worst wave so far. But the cases will come down soon,” Jain told reporters here.
He said laxity on the part of people has also been a major reason behind the surge.
“Some people think nothing will happen to them if they don’t wear a mask. They are wrong. Mask is the only medicine for Covid till a vaccine is developed,” he added.
As many as 49,082 patients recuperated from the disease in a day taking the total recoveries to 78.68 lakh which exceed the active infections by 73,56,303, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday.
The trend of single-day Covid-19 recoveries exceeding daily new cases has been observed for the 37th day on Sunday. “This has played a pivotal role in pushing down the active cases presently 5,12,665 and comprise 6.03% of the total caseload,” it said.
India has reported less than 50,000 daily new cases in a span of 24 hours with 45,674 persons testing positive.
A total of 559 case fatalities have been reported in a span of 24 hours.
Of these, 10 states and UTs make for 79%. Over 26.8% new deaths are from Maharashtra (150). Delhi and West Bengal follow with 79 and 58 deaths respectively. The total Covid cases topped 85,07,754 with 45,674 infections in a day, while the death toll reached 1,26,121 with 559 new fatalities.
Within days of schools reopening in Himachal, 67 students and 25 staff members of a school in Mandi district tested positive.
A total of 67 students including 47 girls, 20 boys and 25 staff members tested positive at Tibetan Children Village (TCV) School in Mandi district's Sojha. "They tested positive when the administration adopted a proactive approach on their arrival from outside the state and carried out routine enhanced testing under its special testing campaign,” a govt spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said Covid positive students of TCV school have a travel history. They came to the state between October 25-31 from Arunachal, Ladakh, Maharashtra and Nepal.
Virus Tidbits
-- Probe ordered after medicines meant for patients found abandoned in J&K’s Bhaderwah.
-- Bengaluru cinemas face closure due to lack of footfall.
-- New look Tirupati gets ready for reopening.
-- Govt eases condition for claiming ESIC scheme benefits.
-- 2 Rajasthan BJP MLAs Narpat Singh Rajvi and Madan Dilawar test positive.
-- Daily rise of 1,872 cases take Rajasthan’s tally to 2.11 lakh; death toll 1,989.
