NEW DELHI: COVID-19 cases are rising fast in the national capital but there is no reason to worry, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Friday, emphasising that hospitalisation and death rates are quite low.
He asked people to be responsible and assured them that the government has made all preparations and enough hospital beds are available.
He also said that the restrictions imposed in view of the surge in coronavirus cases will only be tightened if necessary, "but if corona cases begin to decline, we will relax the restrictions."
"Cases are rapidly increasing and there are no two ways about it. We all know that the Omicron variant is quite transmissible and infectious," Kejriwal told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
He was at Rajghat to flag off 100 low-floor AC CNG buses that will run from the Ghumanhera depot in outer Delhi and will cater to rural areas.
The chief minister said that despite the rise in cases and the increase in positivity rate, which has crossed 29 per cent, the hospitalisation rate and the number of deaths are quite low.
"As a result, there is no need for people to be concerned or to panic. From the perspective of the Delhi government, everything is in order. There is no shortage of hospital beds. There are also plenty of ICU beds available. We do not need to panic, but we must act responsibly. We are keeping an eye on the coronavirus situation," he said.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been saying that the hospitalisation rate in Delhi has stagnated, which is an indication that the current wave of the pandemic has plateaued.
According to him, 75 per cent of the people who died due to coronavirus were unvaccinated and 90 per cent of them had comorbidities.
Delhi on Thursday reported 28,867 COVID-19 cases, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic, and 31 deaths, while the positivity rate went up to 29.21 per cent, according to official data.