Delhi surpasses Mumbai to become worst-hit Covid-19 city in India
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has convened a meeting today evening to review the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the national capital. The meeting will be attended by Health minister Satyendra Jain and several top government hospitals.
"The Chief Minister has called a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in Delhi at 4 PM today. Health Minister Satyendar Jain and senior government officials will be present at the meeting at the Delhi Secretariat," a senior government official told PTI.
Delhi has been consistently recording over 1,500 cases over the last few days. This sudden surge has been termed as a fresh wave of coronavirus. As many as 16,699 fresh cases with a sharp rise in the positivity rate to 20.22 per cent (highest till date), and 112 fatalities were recorded on Thursday. The national capital registered 17,282 new infections on Wednesday, its highest single-day spike till date.
The highest single-day spike in Delhi till the third wave of the pandemic -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11 in 2020, while on November 18, the city had recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count so far. The positivity rate mid-November last year had stood above 15 per cent.
Battling the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Delhi has left financial capital Mumbai far behind in the daily tally of cases, becoming the worst-affected city in the country.
Meanwhile, as many as 338 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19. Cops are also at the forefront of the fight against the pandemic that has claimed more than 1.74 lakhs in the country.
"Over 300 Delhi Police personnel test positive for COVID-19. While 15 of them are admitted to the hospital, the rest are home quarantined," the Delhi police said.
"During our duties, we have to take all precautions including wearing a 3-ply or N95 mask, maintaining social distancing and sanitizing," Delhi Police Commissioner S N Srivastava said.
According to Delhi Police sources, all police personnel who have tested positive are home quarantined and are affected during the fresh wave of Covid-19.
In an attempt to curb the spread of infection, CM Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday announced swweping restrictions including weekend curfew in Delhi.
India on Friday recorded as many as 2,17,353 new Covid-19 cases along with 1,185 more virus-related deaths, in a span of 24 hours, according to Union Health Ministry. With this, the confirmed Covid cases tally stands at 1,42,91,917.
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