On Thursday afternoon, news agency PTI reported that Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj will hold an emergency meeting with doctors, health department officials, and directors of several hospitals. The development came after COVID 19 cases in the national capital touched the 300 mark for the first time in six months. Delhi had 377 cases on August 31 last year, with two deaths, while the positivity rate stood at 2.58 per cent at the time.
According to a Delhi Health Department bulletin on Wednesday, the national capital currently has 806 active COVID cases with an infection rate of 13.89 per cent. Over the last 24 hours, 300 swab tests were conducted, of which 300 were positive. With these fresh cases, Delhi's total COVID 19 caseload is 20,09, 361, while the death count remains at 26,526.
On Tuesday, Delhi registered 214 cases with a positivity rate of 11.82 per cent. 115 fresh COVID 19 cases with a positiveness rate of 7.45 per cent were recorded in the national capital on Monday. The city reported 153 cases with a positive attitude of 9.13 per cent on Sunday and 139 cases with a positive attitude of 4.98 per cent on Saturday.
Experts said that the new XBB is a result of a rise in the number of COVID 19 cases in Delhi. This new surge in cases is caused by the 1.16 variant. They maintain that there is no need to panic and that people should follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and get booster shots of the vaccine.
They believe that the number of cases has gone up because more people are getting tested for coronaviruses as a precaution when they get infected with the influenza virus and develop fever and related symptoms.