Delhi Logs 18,286 New Covid Cases, 28 Deaths in Last 24 Hrs; Positivity Rate at 27.87%

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday lifted compulsory 7-day home quarantine, RT-PCR on arrival requirements for international passengers arriving in Mumbai from the UAE.

India reported 2,71,202 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, marginally higher than Saturday’s infections, data updated by the Union Ministry of Health showed on Sunday morning. The positivity rate was also lower at 16.28 per cent from 16.66 per cent. The country also recorded 314 Covid-19 related fatalities in the last 24 hours, which have taken the death toll to 4,86,066. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday sought to nix concerns over “fewer” Covid testing in the national capital, saying the diagnostic tests being conducted in the city is three times the number recommended by ICMR. All those who need to undergo testing are being tested, he said.

According to the Centre’s new guidelines, asymptomatic patients do not need to undergo a test. Also, contacts of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients do not require a test unless they have comorbidities or are aged above 60. Jain said these new guidelines on testing have come after thoughtful consideration.

The third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, fueled by Omicron, seems to have reached the peak in major cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, according to experts. In Mumbai, the daily cases have been dropping for three consecutive days. “The peak has possibly gone. We are witnessing the start of the decline at the moment,” BMC executive health officer Dr Mangala Gomare was quoted by Times of India as saying.

Jain on Saturday said that it seems the national capital has reached its peak in Covid-19 infections and the government will think of easing restrictions when the cases decline to touch 15,000. He said Delhi is expected to record around 20,000 cases on Saturday, less than Friday’s figure of 24,383.

On Thursday, there were 28,867 cases recorded in Delhi, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. “We can say that Delhi has reached a peak in terms of cases. Cases have started slowing down. Let’s see when the decline happens,” Jain told reporters.

More than 60 per cent of the people infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the national capital did not have any travel history or contact with international travellers, suggesting that its community transmission had happened quite fast, according to a study by the Delhi government-run Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences. The study, possibly the first in India to provide evidence of community transmission of Omicron, looked into genome sequencing data of positive cases collected from five districts of Delhi — South, Southeast, Southwest, West and East — between November 25 and December 23 last year.

India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has crossed 156 crore with more than 57 lakh vaccine doses administered on Saturday, the Union health ministry said. The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night.

Cumulatively, 52,40,53,061 first doses have been administered to individuals in the 18-44 age group across states and union territories and 36,73,83,765 second doses have been given since the start of phase-3 of the vaccination drive, according to health ministry data. In the 15-18 age group, 3,36,09,191 vaccine doses have been administered, the ministry said.

Twenty-two more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Punjab while 6,883 fresh coronavirus cases took the infection tally to 6,56,549, according to a medical bulletin issued on Saturday. Six new fatalities were reported from Patiala, five from Ludhiana, three from Amritsar, two each from Fatehgarh Sahib, Gurdaspur and Hoshiarpur and one each from Mohali and Sangrur.

Sikkim’s COVID-19 tally rose to 34,399 on Saturday as 369 more people tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said. The Himalayan state’s coronavirus death toll rose to 413 as two more patients succumbed to the infection.

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