Delhi on Monday witnessed a drop in coronavirus cases, reporting 12,651 infections and 319 deaths in 24 hours as the city battles a devastating second wave that has overwhelmed its healthcare system. The number of daily new cases was the lowest since April 12, according to The Indian Express. With this, the national Capital’s tally of infections rose to 13,36,218 and the toll went up to 19,663.
The positivity rate fell to 19.1%, the lowest it has been since April 16, according to NDTV. However, the number of tests conducted have also been falling.
For instance, on April 16, the city’s positivity rate was 19.69%. The national Capital had seen 19,486 new cases that day, while 98,957 tests were conducted. In contrast, only 66,234 tests were conducted in the past 24 hours, according to Monday’s bulletin.
Meanwhile, shortages of oxygen, beds and vaccines continued to plague the city’s health care system.
Earlier on Monday, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain warned that the city was running dangerously low on vaccine supplies, a problem that could exacerbate the strong second wave of coronavirus infections in the Capital. “There is only one day of Covaxin [supplies] left in Delhi and only three to four days of Covishield,” Jain told reporters. “We need vaccines at the earliest.”
Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi said that centres where Covaxin was being used for those in the 18-44 age bracket would have to be shut after Tuesday evening if stocks were not replenished.
As per Monday’s bulletin, Delhi has received a total of 43.20 lakh doses of vaccines, of which 38.53 lakh have been utilised so far. This means, the state now has about 4.67 lakh doses left in its inventory.
On May 8, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to the Centre to provide 2.6 crore more vaccine doses to inoculate the city’s entire population over the next three months. Kejriwal had said that Delhi currently had doses enough to vaccinate people only for the next five to six days.
“We need 80 to 85 lakh vaccine doses every month for three months to inoculate all in Delhi,” he had said. “Our plan is to vaccinate everyone in three months, and for that, we need these many doses.”
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