Delhi’s COVID caseload sort of stabilised, likely to taper down in coming days: Saurabh Bharadwaj

Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Friday said that Covid-19 cases in Delhi have stabilised and are expected to decrease in the coming days.

Bharadwaj said, “Recently, it was being said that the cases were showing an upward trend. Now, it is likely to taper down in the coming days.”

Speaking of deaths in the national capital, he said that most of the coronavirus-related deaths recorded in the national capital in recent times have been caused by co-morbidities, and Covid was incidental.

Earlier it was reported that from 9-15 April, the capital saw a total of 24 Covid related deaths which was highest in India.

He said, “In most of these cases, patients had serious illnesses for a long time and Covid was incidental. But, any death is unfortunate, and it should not happen”.

When asked if any special arrangements are being considered for schools and children in view of the Covid cases, the minister said, no such step was being planned as of now.

“We are telling teachers that if students have cough and cold, those children should be advised to take rest. We will appeal to parents to not send their children to school if they have such symptoms,” he said.

On the Delhi government’s preparedness to fight the Covid pandemic, Bharadwaj said, “We have all our arrangements in place, including Covid beds, oxygen beds, ICU beds, oxygen supply and others.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Delhi logged 1,603 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 26.75 per cent along with three fatalities, according to data shared by the city health department here. With the new fatalities, the death toll in the city due to the coronavirus pandemic rose to 26,581.

Out of 7,976 Covid beds in the hospitals of Delhi, 390 are occupied, the health department data showed. A day earlier, the city reported six deaths along with 1,757 new cases with a positivity rate of 28.63 per cent. On Wednesday, the city reported six deaths along with 1,757 new cases of the disease with a positivity rate of 28.63 per cent. The national capital had recorded 1,537 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with a positivity rate of 26.54 per cent.

On Monday, Delhi recorded 1,017 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 32.25 per cent, the highest in more than 15 months.

The number of COVID-19 cases had dropped to zero on January 16 for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic. However, the city has witnessed a spurt in cases over the last fortnight. The number of active cases currently stands at 6,120, the data showed. The number of patients in home isolation is 4,131.

Mock drills were conducted in Delhi hospitals on April 11 to ascertain their preparedness to tackle COVID-19. Medical experts have said Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16 could be driving the surge in cases in the city. However, they have maintained that there is no need to panic and people should follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get their booster shots. Last week, Saurabh Bharadwaj had said that XBB.1.16 is not leading to a severe infection among children. (With inputs from PTI)