NEW DELHI: The national capital on Monday, December 27, 2021, recorded 331 fresh cases of Covid-19 along with one fatality, the highest number of fresh cases recorded in a single day since June 9. The single-day rise in covid cases has spiked expeditiously in the last week amid the looming third wave and Omicron scare.
A total of 142 Omicron cases were recorded in Delhi on Monday, the highest in the country so far. According to experts, the numbers are expected to increase, considering the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant. Out of the 142, 23 Omicron variant infected patients have been discharged after recovering from the virus.
Although most of the patients recovering from the Omicron variant are asymptomatic and no case of severity has been recorded by any patient, the doctors are yet to observe how the variant is behaving in elderly patients.
Dr Samiran Panda from ICMR said, “Omicron is a mild variant and since Delta affected almost 80 per cent of the population in Delhi, chances of Omicron affecting patients in a severe manner are bleak. However, it will spread and will act as mild flu.”
Dr Panda added, “Even those with vaccination and booster shots won’t be spared, but the impact will be very less as seen in Africa, where the numbers went high but came down very soon.” Meanwhile, in an attempt to control the spike in numbers, the government also imposed a night curfew from Tuesday night from 11 pm till 5 pm.
Only patients and pregnant women, people out to buy essential items, and those travelling to or from railway stations, bus stops, and airports will be exempted from the night curfew, said a DDMA order. Those exempted from the curfew also include government officials involved in emergency services, judges and judicial officers, medical personnel, and media persons, the DDMA order said.
The death toll due to Covid-19 rose to 25,106. On Sunday, Delhi recorded 290 cases with a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent and one fatality. On Saturday and Friday, the daily case counts stood at 249 and 180 cases respectively. It jumped to 331 cases on Monday, said the latest health bulletin. This rise has been the highest since June 9 when 337 cases were logged with a positivity rate of 0.46 per cent, while 36 deaths were also recorded on that day.
