New Delhi: After a massive spike in Covid infections, Delhi has started seeing a declining trajectory of cases with a downward trend reported for the fifth day in a row on Tuesday. However, the hospitalisation rate in the city has not declined in proportion with the falling daily cases.
The national capital had, on January 13, reported a massive spike in daily Covid cases at 28,867, the highest single-day rise since the start of the pandemic, with a 29.21 per cent positivity rate. However, the daily tally has fallen by over 50 per cent in these five days since then to 11,684 cases on January 18. The death rate has also fallen in these days.
Meanwhile, the positivity rate fluctuates more or less on the same curved path as the city recorded a 29.21 per cent positivity rate when the single-day Covid rise was highest and the positivity remains 22.47 per cent even as the cases have halved.
However, despite the significant fall in daily Covid caseload, the hospital admission rate has not declined and remains the same or stable for the last four to five days. Experts attribute this to the high positivity rate.
The Delhi government-run first Omicron-dedicated Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital has seen two more admissions in the intensive care unit on Tuesday. LNJP had 41 occupied and 459 vacant beds in the ICU on January 16 which has now risen to 43 occupied in the ICU. Out of the total Covid beds, the hospital had 150 occupied on Monday, but 9 patients have been discharged and only 141 are occupied by Tuesday evening.
CMO Dr Ritu Saxena said that the cases have come down in the city but the hospital admission rate remain more or less the same in the last one week. She added the reason can be attributed that most patients are getting treatment in home isolation.
Meanwhile, the daily testing in the city has gone down to over 50 per cent from 1,05,102 Covid tests on January 12 to only 52,002 tests in the last 24 hours on Tuesday. On being asked about fewer Covid tests in the city, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday told media that the ICMR guidelines on Covid testing are being followed in Delhi.
(IANS)
