Covid Fourth Wave Latest Update: Even as the national capital and the adjoining areas are witnessing a sudden surge in COVID cases, health experts on Tuesday said it is not indicative of a fourth wave in the city. However, they said one needs to consider the hospital admissions which have only changed marginally thereby eliminating any cause of concern or panic till now.
Speaking to news agency PTI, physician-epidemiologist Chandrakant Lahariya said it has been more than two weeks since all Covid restrictions have been removed. “It is a holiday period and people are meeting and intermingling. This is also reflected in social mobility and economic activity, which are higher than pre-pandemic periods,” he said. However, he advising caution and stressing on continued surveillance in the city.
He further added that SARS CoV-2 is going to stay for a long time and therefore, there is not going to be any period when the new cases would be zero.
COVID surge due to relaxed restrictions: On the other hand, US-based Infectious disease expert Amita Gupta stated that the rise in cases in Delhi and some other states may be a result of relaxed restrictions, pandemic fatigue, and higher transmissibility of the virus.
Health experts also cautioned against complacency amid relaxed COVID guidelines. One health expert said that all should continue close surveillance for early detection of Covid cases through existing surveillance networks in the country and be prepared to trigger recommendations to resume masking, social distancing if and when surges occur.
Face mask must for all: They are of opinion that the use of face masks by people in Delhi has considerably reduced after a fine of Rs 500 was withdrawn by the officials earlier this month.
In the recent days, Delhi and many other places have been witnessing a sharp rise in COVID cases. On April 18, Kerala reported a five day rise of 940 new cases. The Covid cases in Haryana went up from 514 between April 5-11 to 1,119 between April 12-18, with the highest number of cases being reported from Gurugram and Faridabad, both towns adjacent to Delhi.
On the other hand, Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh witnessed an increase in the number of infections, from around 45 daily cases across the state at the beginning of the month to 135 cases on Monday.
Rising COVID cases: Delhi on Tuesday recorded a nearly 26 per cent jump in fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate has been reported at 4.42 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department. No death has been reported in the city due to the coronavirus in this time period, it said.
The department said that 632 fresh Covid cases have been reported and the positivity rate is 4.42 per cent. The city had on Monday recorded 501 cases and zero death while the positivity rate stood at 7.72 per cent.
On Tuesday, a total of 1,274 COVID-19 patients were under home isolation while on Monday this number was 1,188. On Sunday as many as 964 patients were under home isolation.
