Delhi reported 319 COVID-19-related deaths in a period of 24 hours, taking the total number of deaths to 19,663, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Monday. Also, 12,651 new cases were reported, pushing the total cases to 13,36,218.
A total of 66,234 tests were done in a day, the bulletin said. The test positivity rate was 19.10%. This means that about 19 out of 100 people taking the test are now positive. There was a sharp rise in positivity from 3.5% on April 1 to 36.2% on April 22. But since then, it has stayed below it. A decrease in positivity is a good sign, as per experts. Of the total cases, 12,31,297 people have recovered and there are 85,258 active cases.
The Delhi government has allotted 990 portable ventilators to 15 government hospitals and COVID Care Centres. These facilities were directed to install the ventilators immediately, as per an official order.
Low vaccine stock
Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that Delhi has Covaxin stock for just one day and Covishield stock for three to four days. “We have an extreme shortage of vaccines. For Covaxin, we have stock left for only one day, and for Covishield, only three-four days’ stock is available,” Mr. Jain said.
Mr. Jain said that there is a ray of hope now. “In the past few days, not only is the positivity rate decreasing, but also a downfall in the number of cases is also being observed, which seems to be reducing to half. There was a time when Delhi recorded approximately 28,000 cases. This has fallen to around 13,000,” Mr. Jain said.
Mr. Jain said that we cannot afford to relax right now and need to be careful. “We hope we would receive sufficient oxygen from the Centre, and while we did receive nearly 730 MT a few days ago, we hope the Centre will continue to provide Delhi with oxygen in adequate quantities,” he added.
Also, a captive PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) oxygen plant, which ensures a dedicated oxygen supply to up to 115 beds, started operating in the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital on Monday.
In a related development, the AAP alleged that the BJP-governed municipal corporations are putting lives of people in danger. “Civic bodies are disposing COVID-19 infected garbage into empty plot,” said AAP leader Durgesh Pathak.
