NEW DELHI: From days registering as many as 356 positive Covid-19 cases to as low as 17, Delhi’s battle against the pandemic amidst the lockdown in the past one month has been a rollercoaster of a ride. From 152 active cases on April 1 to 2,362 on April 30, reports of fresh cases in Delhi have been high with exceptions on a few days where fresh cases remained below 50.
What Delhi has been lauded for is maintaining the pace of sample testing, which is comparatively higher than other states. Till April 29, 47,225 have been tested in the city.In the initial days of the month, there was a surge in number of fresh cases as many attendees who were evacuated from the Markaz Masjid had tested positive. In between, there was a phase when the cases remained low. In the last 10 days of the month, new cases have again been high which the experts claimed is owing to more testing.
“The Delhi government has done fairly well in controlling the spread of the virus considering its people, population and urban phenomenon; testing rates have been high... Struggle for ventilators and beds have been an issue which is a factor in other states as well. Currently, there is a mix of people who already had it and who are susceptible. Things can get out of hand if lockdown is lifted as most cases are asymptomatic,” said Giridhar R Babu, Professor and Head Lifecourse Epidemiology, Public Health Foundation of India.
In April, 57 deaths were recorded of which some were from NCR region, while others were brought to city hospitals for treatment. Two deaths were reported in March.Amongst total positive cases as on April 29, 2,303, are those who are below the age of 50 with a fatality rate of 0.43%. Of total deaths in Delhi, 10 were of this age group with nine having co-morbidities. 16 patients were between the age group of 50-59 and 30 were over 60.
Lately, the state government’s decision to use plasma therapy has yielded positive results among critical patients. The state government also took measures to curtail the spread of the infection apart from nationwide lockdown. From April 8 onwards, declaration of containment zones was started which are primarily the hotspots. Currently, there are 98 containment zones in the national capital.Authorities also stopped disclosing figure of patients discharged and instead brought in the recovered category in the daily health bulletin.
Taking a closer look at the numbers
2,362 active cases were reported on April 30. This is a steep rise in number of active cases from 152 reported back in April 1
47,225 people were tested till April 29 in the national capital. Many experts have lauded Delhi’s high testing rate