Delhi on Friday logged around 8,500 new Covid-19 cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, adding it was the first occasion in the last few weeks that the city’s daily count had fallen under the 10,000-mark. Kejriwal said the positivity rate of cases in Delhi had come down to 12% on Thursday.
In a video message, the chief minister said that the Covid-19 crisis in the Capital was improving. Kejriwal noted that on April 28, Delhi recorded more than 28,000 new cases of coronavirus and the positivity rate had gone past 36% on April 22.
A report on the exact number of cases and other details will be released later on Friday.
“More than 3,000 coronavirus beds have cleared up in hospitals in the last 10 days,” Kejriwal said. “However, intensive care unit beds are still mostly occupied which suggests there has not been much decline in the number of patients who are in a serious condition.”
The chief minister added that the government had made provisions for 1,200 more ICU beds that will may be used in the next two days.
The chief minister, however, cautioned residents in Delhi and urged them to keep following the lockdown guidelines.
Kejriwal also assured that the Delhi government will take responsibility for the education of children who lost their parents due to the pandemic and provide financial assistance to elderly citizens whose earning family members have died.
Delhi has been under a lockdown since April 19 due to the alarming rise in coronavirus cases in the second wave of the pandemic. In his latest announcement on the restrictions, Kejriwal extended the lockdown till May 17.
The second wave of Covid-19 took a toll on the city’s healthcare infrastructure, with most hospitals reporting a severe shortage of beds, medical oxygen and equipment. Multiple hospitals in the city were also forced to approach courts to ensure they received supplies of oxygen to save lives of Covid-19 patients. The Kejriwal-led government also had frequent run-ins with the central government on supply of oxygen and vaccines.
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