NEW DELHI: The national capital will report around 22,000 fresh COVID cases today, announced the chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday.
Kejriwal returned to work on Sunday after he had tested COVID positive and was under home isolation for five days. Talking about the rising cases in the city, he urged people to not panic because the situation this year is comparatively better as it was last year.
"The rising cases may be a matter of concern but people don’t have to panic. I am saying this after analyzing the data. Last year, the months of April and May had witnessed nearly the same number of cases. On May 7, Delhi had logged 20,000 cases when 20,000 beds were occupied and 341 deaths were reported. However on January 8, 2022 when yet again 20,000 cases were reported, only 1500 beds were occupied followed by seven fatalities," Kejriwal said.
"There should be no single death but considering the situation, the deaths reported this year are less with lesser hospitalization. When we have overcome last year’s dangerous wave then we can easily overcome this wave as well. We need to be cautious and responsible," he further added.
The AAP supremo also announced that the government will not be imposing any lockdown in the near future provided people continue to wear masks, maintain social distance and move out homes only in necessary conditions. "We have no intention to impose any lockdown and we want to go ahead with minimum restrictions such that employment is not affected in any way. We just want this wave to end soon," Kejriwal added.
He also shared that the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will be holding a meeting on January 10 to review the situation yet again. The meeting will be chaired by the Lt Governor while the chief minister will also be present in the meeting. “We have been keeping a strict vigil on the rising cases and the situations in hospitals and we are in constant touch with the central government in this regard,” said the CM.
Kejriwal urged people to get themselves vaccinated for the minimal effect of COVID infection on the body. On Saturday, Delhi had logged 20,181 cases with a positivity rate of 19.60 per cent.