'Can't say it is a second wave': Delhi Health Minister on recent spurt in COVID-19 cases

As Delhi reported over 2,000 COVID-19 infections for three consecutive days, Health Minister Satyendar Jain Thursday said it cant be termed a second wave of coronavirus as cases are t rising after touching zero.

"You cant say it is a second wave. We could have called it a second wave if re were positive cases for one or two months and n cases would have started coming again. virus is still re in Delhi. You should t stress about numbers," he told reporters here.

He said Delhi government wants to ensure re is positive case in city and is refore increasing daily testing for COVID-19.

After a brief lull, Delhi has seen a spurt in number of COVID-19 cases over last few days.

On Thursday, Delhi recorded 2,737 COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day spike in 67 days, taking infection tally to over 1.82 lakh, while death toll mounted to 4,500.

This is third successive day in which over 2,000 new cases have been reported -- 2,509 cases were reported on Wednesday, 2,312 cases on Tuesday.

Jain said Delhi's case fatality ratio was 0.75 per cent as on Wednesday, which is a good sign.

case fatality ratio is ratio of number of deaths and total number of cases.

"Overall, it is 2.5 per cent. Yesterday, it was less than one per cent, which is a good sign. At one time, it was 3.5 per cent," he added.

"We are increasing ( number of) tests. We are emphasising on testing and working aggressively on it. Yesterday, number was around 30,000 and today it will be around 35,000. If a case is isolated at home or hospital, it won't be able to infect 10 people. We want that t one positive case should be re," he said.

minister said anybody can get tested at Delhi government dispensaries or hospitals for free.

Last week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had anunced that his government will double daily COVID-19 tests from 20,000 to 40,000. On Wednesday, a total of 28,835 tests were conducted, maximum since March.

On certain private hospitals in Delhi reporting a short of ICU beds, Jain said over 70 per cent of 14,000 beds allocated for COVID-19 in city are vacant.

"We asked five to six hospitals and learnt that 70 to 80 per cent of patients re are from outside Delhi. re might be issues in some hospitals but re is short of beds," he said.

minister was also asked about patients facing stress post recovery from virus, and he said that government has opened a post-COVID clinic and re are psychiatrists to counsel patients.

Jain also said government is formulating protocols for travelling on Delhi Metro, which will resume from September 7 after a hiatus of over five months.

"A dry run is also being conducted so that it can be ensured that people wear masks, clean ir hands, follow social distancing rms and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour," he said.

Delhi Metro will resume services in three sts between September 7 and 12, according to Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

Trains will be available from 7-11 AM and 4-8 PM, it said.

Metro services in Delhi-NCR were suspended on March 22 in view of pandemic. 

Im Credits: PTI