New Delhi: The national capital reported 7,745 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours – the highest number of cases since the pandemic reached the city earlier this year. This was the second time the number of per day COVID-19 cases in Delhi breached the 7,000-mark; the first was on November 6 with 7,178 cases.
A report by the National Centre for Disease Control on October 8 had projected that Delhi may see up to 15,000 coronavirus cases in winter.
The cases are now at 4,38,529. Government data shows 79 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, and the death rate stands at 1.6 per cent, while the recovery rate is 89 per cent.
The total fatalities in Delhi are 6,989, while 3,89,683 have recovered.
The only time cases fell in the last 10 days in Delhi was on November 2, when the national capital reported 4,001 cases, while on the other days the cases were above the 5,000 to 7,000 mark.
Air quality in the National Capital Region or NCR has also been a matter of big concern as winter approaches amid the coronavirus pandemic, and with Delhi reporting thousands of COVID-19 cases every day.
Poor air quality in winter could have a big impact on health as experts widely believe that those with co-morbidities are at a higher risk as the virus is known to affect the respiratory system.
The Indian Medical Association has said that Delhi has reported more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases daily in the past few days and 13 per cent of this increase has been estimated to be due to air pollution.
The IMA has advised that people should not go out early in the morning when pollution levels are the highest and senior citizens and children are more likely to develop infections and allergies due to smog. The IMA has said implementation of long-term measures is needed to bring down pollution levels.
The national capital’s daily positivity rate is 15.3 per cent, while the national average is 3.8 per cent. The centre has been asking states to take measures to keep positivity rate below 5 per cent.
The centre had asked the Delhi government to increase RT-PCR tests and improve its antigen and RT-PCR ratio, which is currently at 77 per cent antigen and 23 per cent RT-PCR tests.
India’s daily COVID-19 cases rose by 45,674 in the last 24 hours till Sunday morning, taking its overall coronavirus tally past the 85-lakh mark, government data released this morning showed.
