In an another hint of second wave of COVID-19 in India, the capital city Delhi sees itself in a worrisome situation as there has been a 527 per cent increase in the number of daily cases in the past month.
On Wednesday (March 24), the city recorded 1,254 while exactly a month before on 24th February 200 cases were recorded. The positivity rate of the infection has also gone up from 0.36 per cent to 1.52 per cent during the same period, the data showed.
The city also recorded its highest single day spike on March 24 in the past three months. Six people succumbed to the virus, taking the overall death count to 10,973. Before this the city had recorded highest single day spike on 18 December with 1,418 cases.
On an average, over 800 new cases were reported every day in the past week, against 428 cases daily a week prior. Owing to the massive rise, authorities announced measures to restrict large public gatherings. The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Tuesday have also banned public celebrations during Holi, Navaratri and Shab-e-Baraat.
The government has ordered all district magistrates to ensure strict enforcement of all Covid-related norms, especially in crowded areas. It also said random testing for Covid-19 will be held across the city’s airports, railway and bus stations.
There are 69 cases of new variants in Delhi, out of which 65 are of the UK strain, while four are of the South African variant.
The “double mutant” variant of the coronavirus that has been detected from samples collected in India has also seen nine cases in Delhi.
Meanwhile, the Centre on March 24 said, A new “double mutant variant” of SARS-CoV-2 has also been detected in Delhi, Maharashtra and some other places in addition to the three “variants of concern” — first noticed in the UK, South Africa and Brazil — that have been found in at least 18 states and union territories."