NEW DELHI: The surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi in the past few days could be because of people’s negligence and carelessness to follow social distancing norms and wearing of masks, according to experts. “And with the opening of metro services, the cases are likely to go up more. Because the air circulation system of metros are different from that of airplanes.
A passenger travelling for a long distance inside the closed compartments with no mask remains at high risk of getting infected. The impact of metro service will be visible within a week,” said Naval Kishore, professor of medicine at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. Keeping in view the rising cases, the state government plans to increase testing to nearly 40,000, which is currently about 20,000 a day. On August 4, active cases in the city had gone down below 10,000.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had then claimed it to be a success in combating the pandemic as active cases had reduced to four digit figures. But, active cases are rising once again and is currently at 13,550. For the past four consecutive days, new cases have been high.
As per the state government’s daily health bulletin, 1,808 fresh cases were detected on Friday. Owing to this rise, the occupancy of beds in hospitals has also gone up. “In the last 4-5 days there have been relatively more new admissions compared to the end of last month or the beginning of this month. But most of those who are getting admitted are in a stable position.
There hasn’t been much rise in the number of patients on ventilators or needing oxygen,” said B L Sherwal, director, Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital. Currently, there are 4,892 patients admitted in hospitals, including the ones on ventilator and oxygen while 6,850 are in home isolation. As per the health department, the recovery rate of Delhi is currently at 89.41 per cent.