Highlights:
- In view of the sharp drop in new cases detected in the national capital, Kejriwal Government urges lifting of weekend curfews and restrictions on markets
- Lieutenant Governor rejects the recommendation letter and disapproves lifting the weekend curfew
- Reduction in costs of RT-PCR tests and RAT (Rapid Antigen Tests) to encourage testing and rapid identification of Covid has been implemented by the Delhi Government
On Friday, the Kejriwal Government recommended revoking weekend curfew orders applicable from 10 pm Fridays to 5 am Mondays given the decline in Covid cases. The approval, however, was rejected from Lieutenant Governor, Anil Baijal according to the latest reports.
Commercial establishments and shops which had been permitted to operate on an odd-even basis to restrict crowd gatherings in public spaces will continue to do so as CM Kejriwals request of opening shops as regular has been rejected as well. Private offices which were instructed to operate on a ‘Work From Home’ mode can now open but with 50% capacity. A total of 12,306 cases were reported in Delhi on Thursday indicating a drop of 10.72 per cent over the previous 24 hours. However, 43 confirmed deaths were reported which is the highest since June last year when 44 people had died.
A sharp decline has been observed in the number of Covid-19 cases reported in the national capital over the past few days. The cases that peaked at 30,000 in January had reduced to less than 13,000 yesterday.
A marked decline is evident in the seven-day average of new cases which dropped from a high of over 23,000 to 16,000 on Thursday. However, it is hard to ignore the fact that the city still has nearly 70,000 active Covid cases and a positivity rate of over 20% which is concerning.
A sign of hope lies in the reduced number of active cases. More than 53,000 individuals are in home isolation which lessens the burden on the medical infrastructure of the state. Vacant beds in Covid care facilities with a capacity of nearly 13,000 remain available to wiggle room in case severe infections crop up in the future.
The rates of RT-PCR tests and RAT (Rapid Antigen Tests) have been reduced by the Delhi Government to encourage testing and prompt identification of Covid cases. The RT-PCR tests, priced at Rs 500 earlier have been reduced to Rs 300 and the latter which cost Rs 300 earlier now is Rs 100.
Staving off the fears surrounding the declining number of tests being conducted, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain said that the city was, in fact conducting thrice the number of tests recommended by the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research). 60,000 to 1 lakh tests are being conducted in Delhi, he added.
India this morning reported over 3.47 lakh new cases indicating a nine per cent increase in 24 hours. The positivity rate stands at a worrisome 18 per cent. More than 700 deaths were reported.
