Delhi records 5,475 COVID-19 cases, 91 deaths; AAP govt 'actively considering' imposing night curfew

Delhi's Immunization Officer Suresh Seth claimed that once an anti-coronavirus vaccine becomes available, the entire population of the city could be immunised in a month if hospital staff and nurses are involved. Even as Delhi recorded a daily death toll below 100 for the second day in a row, the case positivity rate increased to 8.65 per cent on Thursday from 8.49 per cent a day earlier.

Delhi recorded a decline in COVID-19 deaths for the second consecutive day on Thursday with 91 more people succumbing to the disease and 5,475 fresh cases being detected, as the AAP government informed the high court it was "actively considering" whether to impose night curfew to contain the spread of infection. Delhi's Immunization Officer Suresh Seth claimed that once an anti-coronavirus vaccine becomes available, the entire population of the city could be immunised in a month if hospital staff and nurses are involved.

Even as Delhi recorded a daily death toll below 100 for the second day in a row, the case positivity rate increased to 8.65 per cent on Thursday from 8.49 per cent a day earlier. The 5,475 fresh cases were detected from 63,266 COVID-19 tests, including 28,897 RT-PCR ones, the highest for the city, and 34,369 rapid antigen tests, conducted the previous day, according to a bulletin by the Delhi health department on Thursday.

The city had recorded its highest single-day spike of 8,593 cases on November 11. As many as 131 COVID-related deaths were recorded on November 18, the highest till date. According to the bulletin, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 5,51,262 on Thursday, of which 5,03,717 have recovered. The tally of active cases in Delhi was 38,734 up from 38,287 on Wednesday.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai was admitted to Max Hospital in Saket after he tested positive for coronavirus. Rai is the third minister in the Arvind Kejriwal-government to have contracted the viral disease. Earlier, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendar Jain were infected. Amid the sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in the last couple of weeks, the Delhi government told the high court that it was "actively considering" imposition of night curfew as has been done in some other states, but no decision has been taken yet.

"We are actively considering whether to impose night curfew. No decision has been taken on it," it said. To this, the court said, "Actively considering? As active as COVID-19?". As the high court sought to know how soon the decision would be taken, the Delhi government counsel replied, "May be three to four days." With the race for developing an anti-coronavirus vaccine intensifying, Delhi's Immunization Officer Suresh Seth said the Delhi government was collecting data of health care workers who are at top of the priority list of the Delhi government. "If a vaccine is available, we can administer it to all healthcare workers in just three days... If we involve hospital staff and nurses, we can easily vaccinate the entire population in a month. We have sufficient equipment and cold storage space, we are geared up. We won't let Delhi falter." "We have 600 cold storage points and around 1,800 outreach sites for the universal immunization programme for children. We have sufficient equipment for vaccines that can be stored at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and those that need minus 15 to minus 25 degrees Celsius. The Centre is further strengthening the infrastructure and providing more equipment," Seth told PTI.

He said the equipment and infrastructure for vaccines that need ultra-cold conditions (minus 70 degrees Celsius) are not there, but "we don't think there will be any problem logistically because the immunization programme will be carried out in a phased manner". Meanwhile, the number of available Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds equipped with ventilators reduced to 205 in Delhi with zero vacancy in at least 60 hospitals.

While hearing a plea challenging the AAP government's decision to reserve 80 per cent of ICU beds for coronavirus patients in 33 private hospitals, the Delhi High Court termed the number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital "alarming". "The numbers, we know, are presently in an alarming state," said Justice Navin Chawla while listing the next hearing on December 9 for further consideration of the matter.

The high court also said police and the authorities concerned should avoid collecting fines in cash for violation of COVID-19 norms and the AAP government should create a portal for it. The city has witnessed 2,364 deaths due to coronavirus since October 28, when the daily rise in infections breached the mark of 5,000 cases for the first time, according to official data.

According to officials, a door-to-door survey conducted under the instruction of the Centre to identify and isolate COVID-19 positive people in Delhi's containment zones and densely populated pockets threw up 1,178 cases with a positivity rate of 6.4 per cent. The five-day survey covered over 57 lakh people in the city's containment zones and thickly populated areas identified 13,560 symptomatic people, out of which 11,790 were tested. Also 8,413 contacts of these symptomatic people were traced, of which 6,546 people were tested, they said. Delhi reported 98 deaths on November 19, 118 on November 20, 111 on November 21, 121 each on November 22 and 23, and 109 fatalities on November 24. While 131 COVID-related deaths were recorded on November 18, the highest till date, Delhi registered its highest single-day spike of 8,593 cases on November 11.