Delhi sees over 10K coronavirus cases in 6 days

The COVID-19 tally climbed by over 10,000 and breached the 40,000 mark in just six days in Delhi with an average of over 1,600 new cases on a daily basis, a sharp spike from the 79 days it took to reach the 10,000 mark, according to an analysis. It took eight days for the number of cases to rise from 20,000 to 30,000 in Delhi, while it took 13 days for the tally to progress from 10,000 to 20,000.

According to the analysis of the Delhi government data, the number of cases crossed the 30,000 mark on June 9 and it crossed the 40,000 mark on June 14. Delhi recorded 2,224 fresh coronavirus cases on Sunday in the highest single-day spike, taking the tally to over 41,000, while the death toll due to the pandemic mounted to 1,327.

On Saturday, the tally was 38,958 cases, including 2,134 new ones, while the number of fatalities was 1,271. On Friday, Delhi had recorded the highest single-day spike of 2,137 cases, which had taken the tally to 36,824, while the death toll was 1,214. On June 11, there was also a highest single-day spike of 1,877 new cases, which took the tally to 34,687.

The previous biggest single-day spike was on June 3, when the city witnessed 1,513 fresh coronavirus cases. Delhi reported its first COVID-19 case on March 1, when a businessman in east Delhi was diagnosed with the disease after returning from Italy. By May 18, the city had reported 10,054 cases at an average of nearly 127 instances of the infection daily. In the next 13 days, the tally rose to 19,844, the Delhi government data shows. The number of deaths also saw a three-fold increase -- from 160 till May 18 to 473 by May 31.

On May 28, Delhi recorded over 1,000 fresh cases for the first time. It reported over 1,000 coronavirus cases for four days in a row from May 28-31. On May 31, as many as 1,295 fresh cases were reported, while on May 30, 1,163 cases were detected. May 29 saw an addition of 1,106 cases, while the day before, 1,024 new cases were added to the tally. On June 1, there were 990 new cases, but from June 2 onwards, the daily spike was above 1,000.

Amid the surge in coronavirus cases, the Delhi government has said the current doubling rate of the infection in the city is 14 days. By that estimation, it will see over 56,000 cases in the next two weeks. The cases will explode to 5.5 lakh by July-end, the government had said.