NEW DELHI: The national capital on Thursday recorded seven more Omicron cases, taking the total tally to 64 so far. After Maharashtra (88), Delhi has the second-highest number of such cases. Health officials said that out of the 64, as many as 23 have been discharged while the admitted patients have not shown any signs of severity.
All the patients are fully vaccinated and a few of them also had booster shots, said senior officials. Meanwhile, the city recorded 118 fresh Covid on Thursday along with one fatality. The positivity rate stood at 0.19 per cent. On Wednesday, the number of fresh cases was 125 with no fatality. Delhi has recorded five deaths due to Covid-19 in December so far. Seven deaths were reported in November, four in October and five in September.
As per the health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Thursday, 61,322 tests were conducted including 56,511 RT-PCR and 6,802 rapid antigen tests. A total of 336 patients are in home isolation while 230 hospital beds are occupied out of 9,034 kept ready for Covid patients, the health department bulletin stated.
According to the government data, the state has administered 2.51 crore doses of Covid vaccine. While around 1.5 crore residents have received first dose of the vaccine, around 1.04 crore people have received both doses.
Amid the Omicron scare and rising number of fresh cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to assess the state government’s preparation. He said there is “no need to panic as the state government is fully prepared for the worst case scenario”.
“Ninety-nine per cent Delhiites have taken the first dose of vaccine and 70 per cent are fully vaccinated. The sero surveys have projected that antibodies have developed in 95 per cent of the population, hope it does not spread much,” said Kejriwal.
Kejriwal had on Monday said all samples that test positive for Covid-19 would be sent for genome sequencing. Kejriwal also urged the central government to allow administration of booster shots to the fully vaccinated residents. He further said the home isolation system will be strengthened in Delhi as
according to experts the Omicron variant only causes mild symptoms. The CM further said the government has made adequate arrangements for hospital beds, oxygen, medicines and everything else that may be needed to combat the virus.
96% increase in Covid-19 cases in the city in the last fortnight ending Wednesday
362: Total cases in the week spanning December 9-15
712: Total cases in the seven days from December 16 to December 22
Number of average daily cases jumped from 51 to 101 in the past two weeks ending December 22
