COVID-19: Steady rise in no. of active cases in Delhi since Aug 5, barring three days

The number of active COVID-19 cases has shown a steady increase in Delhi since August 5, except on three days, when the city recorded a marginal fall compared to the previous days' figures, according to official data.

The count of active cases was 10,072 in Delhi on August 5, while it stood at 9,897 on August 4. Since then, the number of active cases reported daily has been in five digits.

Delhi recorded 1,544 fresh coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the highest single-day spike in the city so far in August, taking its tally to over 1.64 lakh, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 4,330, authorities said.

The tally of active cases rose to 11,998 on Tuesday from 11,626 the previous day, according to a Delhi health department bulletin.

The figures of fresh and active cases have shown a rise in the last several days, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying on Wednesday that the daily COVID-19 tests will be doubled in Delhi to 40,000 within a week as there has been a marginal increase in the number of coronavirus cases in the city.

The number of active cases had come down to a four-digit count on August 4 after a long time since the cases had surged in the preceding months.

On July 23, the number of active cases stood at 14,554 in Delhi, falling to 10,705 on July 31.

On August 1, it further dropped to 10,596 with 1,118 fresh cases reported that day and the death toll was 3,989, according to figures shared earlier by the Delhi health department.

After showing a gradual slump till August 4 (9,897), it rose again from the next day onwards, and steadily increased till August 25, when the tally of active cases was 11,998.

However, on three days between August 5 and 25 -- August 10, 16 and 24 -- the figures registered a marginal fall compared to the count on the previous days.

On August 9, the tally of active cases was 10,729 while the total number of COVID-19 cases stood at over 1.45 lakh and the death count at 4,111. On August 10, the count of active cases slipped to 10,346.

Similarly, on August 15 and 16, the count of active COVID-19 cases were 11,489 and 10,823 respectively.

On August 23 and 24, the corresponding figures were 11,778 and 11,626 respectively, according to the data.

The positivity rate in Delhi has been fluctuating too over the last few days. It was 5.2 per cent on August 17 and 7 per cent on August 21.

The positivity rate stood at 7.7 per cent on Tuesday while the recovery rate was over 90 per cent, according to the bulletin.

A total of 1,47,743 COVID-19 patients have recovered from COVID-19 till date in Delhi, Tuesday's bulletin said.

However, the recovery rate in the national capital has hovered around or over 90 per cent in the last few days, much higher than the COVID-19 recovery rate at the national level, which is over 76 per cent.

There are 7,07,267 actives COVID-19 cases in the country presently, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.

Addressing an online media briefing, Kejriwal said at present, 20,000 tests are being conducted in the city per day, which he said, would be doubled.

Earlier in the day, the chief minister had called a high-level meeting to discuss the rising number of coronavirus cases in Delhi.

Kejriwal said the government has issued directions for a stringent enforcement of the COVID-19 guidelines, adding that everyone should wear face masks and maintain social distancing at public places.

The first coronavirus case was reported in Delhi on March 1. In the last of week of March, a nationwide lockdown was imposed in view of the COVID-19 situation across the country.

While the economy has slowly been allowed to re-open since June, there has been an increase in the number of cases in Delhi since Unlock 1.0.

The highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases was recorded in the national capital on June 23.

In May also, a huge spike in the number of cases was reported, with May 31 recording 1,295 fresh cases.

Medical experts conjectured on Tuesday that the rise in the number of daily cases in the national capital in the last few days could be attributed to patients from outside Delhi coming here for treatment, the re-opening of the economy and a low sensitivity of rapid-antigen tests.

The previous highest single-day spike in cases in August was on Sunday at 1,450. Delhi has seen a fluctuation in the number of novel coronavirus cases since the beginning of this month.

For four days between August 10 and 22, the city saw less than 1,000 fresh cases -- August 10 (707), August 13 (956), August 16 (652), and August 17 (787). 

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