Doctors rule out fresh wave of pandemic

Health experts sought to allay fears of an impending fourth wave ofthe Covid pandemic in Delhi, saying that the fluctuations in infections will keep happening in the city.
As many as 26,647 Covid tests were conducted in the city | Shekhar Yadav
As many as 26,647 Covid tests were conducted in the city | Shekhar Yadav

NEW DELHI: Health experts sought to allay fears of an impending fourth wave ofthe Covid pandemic in Delhi, saying that the fluctuations in infections will keep happening in the city. “I have said it earlier also, the numbers will keep fluctuating and rise and downfall will be noticed after a period of time but the severity of cases is not likely to arise,” said Dr Sanjay Rai, Professor at Centre for Community Medicine department at AIIMS.

The spike in daily Covid cases is nothing new and not a major worry, but there is a need to strictly monitor the cases, he said. Dr Jugal Kishore, the head of Community Medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, asserted that the rise in cases is hardly a wave. “This is hardly a wave. The numbers have not gone very high. Test Positivity Ratio was high because testing was decreased,” he added.

According to ICMR senior epidemiologist Dr Samiran Panda, the infections in Delhi shot up only in some districts. “The surge was only reported in some districts due to which higher numbers were reported, but this cannot be called as a fourth wave,” he added.

All the public health experts, however, advised the people of now lowering their guard when they step out from the safe confines of their homes. People should follow basic mitigation measures such as hand hygiene, masking to prevent the spread of the viral infection, they said.

On Sunday, Delhi reported 1,422 fresh cases of Covid and zero fatality while the positivity rate was 5.34 per cent, said the data shared by the city health department. With the new cases, Delhi’s Covid infection tally rose to 18,94,254. While there are 5,939 active cases, the number of containment zones was 1,896, according to the latest health bulletin.

Currently, 177 Covid patients are admitted in hospitals, while 4,340 are recuperating in home-isolation, the bulletin stated. Of the 9,590 beds for Covid patients in various hospitals, only 186 (1.94 per cent) are occupied, it stated.

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