4,099 new Covid cases in Delhi, positivity rate 6.46%; Health Minister Satyendar Jain says Omicron reason for surge

Delhi reported 4,099 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 6.46 per cent on Monday, with Health Minister Satyendar Jain saying the Omicron variant of coronavirus is behind the surge in infections in the city and more restrictions will be implemented if bed occupancy rate goes up, PTI reported.

The number of new cases and positivity rate in the city is the highest since May 18.

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The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which devises Covid management policies for the national capital, will hold a crucial meeting on Tuesday to discuss the need for more curbs in view of the alarming spike in cases.

A positivity rate of more than 5 per cent for two consecutive days will trigger a 'red alert' under the DDMA-approved Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) leading to a 'total curfew' and halting of most economic activities.

According to the latest government data, only 420 (4.65 per cent) of the 9,029 beds in Delhi hospitals are occupied.

As many as 124 patients need oxygen, while seven are on ventilator support.

With one more fatality, the death toll due to coronavirus in the city has risen to 25,100.

The number of cumulative cases on Monday stood at 14,58,220. Over 14.22 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.

Nine COVID-19 deaths were reported in the city in December last year, and seven in November, according to official data.

Delhi had recorded four Covid deaths in October and five in September.
A total of 63,477 tests ? 57,813 RT-PCR tests -- were conducted the previous day, the bulletin said.

Earlier in the day, Jain told the Delhi Assembly that the latest genome sequencing report shows Omicron has been found in 81 per cent of the samples tested and the new variant of concern is the reason behind the surge in coronavirus cases in the national capital.

Of the latest 187 Covid samples tested, 152 had (81 per cent) Omicron and 8.5 per cent had Delta, he said.

"So, Omicron is the variant spreading now and the share of other variants is very low," the minister said responding to a question of Leader of Opposition Ramvir Bidhuri.

He also told the Assembly that none of the Omicron-infected patients admitted to the city hospitals had required oxygen so far.

Though there is a spike in the number of Covid cases, the situation is under control as not many people are developing severe symptoms or require hospitalisation, he said.

The minister stressed that the home isolation policy is very effective in Omicron cases as most of the patients do not have any symptoms. A few of them have developed low-grade fever and cold, but there has been no severe case due to Omicron.

"Till Sunday, there were around 8,000 active cases in Delhi and just 3.4 per cent of the total 9,024 Covid beds in the hospitals were occupied. There were around 1,500 to 2,000 patients in the hospitals when Delhi reported an equal number of active cases the last time," Jain said.

He added that more restrictions will be imposed if the bed occupancy rate goes up.

Jain said Delhi is the first state to order a closure of schools and impose restrictions on gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, while other states have only imposed a night curfew.

"People ask why Delhi has imposed such stringent curbs when no one else has done it. Delhi is the national capital and most of the international flights come to the city first. So it is better to have more restrictions here than anywhere else," he said.

Delhi reported 3,194 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 4.59 per cent on Sunday and 2,716 cases with a positivity rate of 3.6 per cent on Saturday.

On Friday and Thursday, 1,796 and 1,313 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 1.73 per cent and 2.44 per cent respectively, according to official figures. The daily case tally on Wednesday, Tuesday and Monday were 923, 496 and 331, respectively.

Delhi had reported 4,482 cases on May 18 last year with a positivity rate of 6.89 per cent.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said though the city is witnessing a sharp spike in the number of daily cases and active cases of coronavirus, there is no need to panic as most patients are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms and do not need hospitalisation.

On December 28, the DDMA declared a 'yellow alert' under the GRAP amid a spike in Covid cases following the emergence of the coronavirus' Omicron variant.

A day later, it decided that Covid-related curbs under the "yellow alert" would continue and the authorities would monitor the situation for a while before deciding on fresh restrictions.

According to GRAP, the Yellow or Level 1 alert kicks in if the case positivity rate crosses 0.5 per cent for two consecutive days or cumulative daily positive cases (seven-day rolling average) cross 1,500 or average oxygenated bed occupancy (seven-day average) is above 500.

The Amber or Level 2 alert is imposed if the case positivity is more than 1 per cent for two consecutive days, or cumulative daily average cases are 3,500 or if bed occupancy is over 700.

Level 3 (Orange) and Level 4 (Red) alerts can be considered if the positivity rate is over 2 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. Other criteria for level 3 and level 4 alerts are 9,000 and 16,000 cumulative daily cases and 1,000 and 3,000 occupied beds respectively.