Covid-19 in Delhi: Amid the rising cases of coronavirus in the country, Delhi LNJP Hospital's medical director said that fresh infections will peak in the national capital in the next couple of weeks. His remarks came as the city's single-day caseload additions on Wednesday (April 12) breached the 1,000 mark for the first time in over seven months.
According to data shared by the Health Department, the positivity rate stood at 23.8% in the national capital with 1,149 fresh cases and one fatality on Wednesday. Speaking to the media, Dr Suresh Kumar, the medical director at LNJP Hospital, said that wearing masks has been made "mandatory" at the facility.
Variant XBB.1.16 affecting children more: LNJP medical director
"Children are not vaccinated, so we need to take precautions for them as they are getting symptoms like fever, cough, eye infection and stomach infection as well. This variant (XBB.1.16) is affecting children more. An 18-day-old newborn has even been admitted to our hospital and the child is Covid positive," he added.
It is better to wear masks in schools and public places and even senior citizens should wear masks. Precaution is surely better, he said.
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"We will see the peak of Covid cases in one-two weeks and the graph will go down from thereon," Kumar said, adding, "We have made all arrangements in the hospital for patients, including children, as they are coming in more numbers with infection". Notably, the 2,000-bed British-era facility is the largest hospital under the Delhi government.
Meanwhile, Delhi Education Minister Atishi on Thursday said the government is reviewing the situation and guidelines for schools will be issued soon. The national capital has witnessed a spurt in single-day caseload additions over the last fortnight amid a sharp rise in H3N2 influenza cases in the country.
India reports over 10,000 fresh cases in last 24 hours
India recorded a single-day rise of 10,158 coronavirus cases, the highest in nearly eight months, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The number of active cases has increased to 44,998, the data showed today (April 13).
The active cases now constitute 0.10% of the total infections. The nationwide COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.71%, according to the health ministry. The case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19%.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease rose to 4,42,10,127. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country.
(With PTI inputs)
