'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 cannot be termed a second wave of coronavirus as cases are not rising after touching zero.

"You cannot say it is a second wave. We could have called it a second wave if there were no positive cases for one or two months and then cases would have started coming again. The virus is still there in Delhi. You should not stress about numbers," he told reporters here.

He said the Delhi government wants to ensure there is no positive case in the city and is therefore increasing the daily testing for COVID-19.

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

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

This is the 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.

The 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 (the number of) tests. We are emphasising on testing and working aggressively on it. Yesterday, the 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 not one positive case should be there," he said.

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

Last week, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced 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, the maximum since March.

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

"We asked five to six hospitals and learnt that 70 to 80 per cent of patients there are from outside Delhi. There might be issues in some hospitals but there is no shortage of beds," he said.

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

Jain also said the government is formulating protocols for travelling on the 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 their hands, follow social distancing norms and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour," he said.

The Delhi Metro will resume services in three stages between September 7 and 12, according to the 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 the pandemic. 

Image Credits: PTI