Stable Covid hospitalisation, positivity rate indicate wave has peaked: Delhi health minister

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that out of the 136 Covid patients at the Lok Nayak Hospital till Tuesday, 130 had come for treatment of other problems and tested positive at the time of admission.The national capital had reported 23 fatalities on Tuesday.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Wednesday said the number of hospital admissions in the national capital due to COVID-19 has stabilised over the last five days which indicates that the current wave of the pandemic has peaked and cases may start declining in two-three days.

The number of daily cases has been hovering around 20,000 for the last few days, and the positivity rate has consistently been around 25 per cent, he said.

''We have observed that the number of hospital admissions has stabilised in the last four to five days and only 2,209 of the 14,621 beds are occupied and 85 per cent of the beds are vacant,'' the minister told reporters.

''Plateauing of hospital admissions is an indication that the wave has peaked. We may see a decline in cases in two to three days,'' he said.

Cases have started declining in Mumbai and Delhi is likely to follow the same trend, Jain added.

''This, however, does not mean that the threat of Covid has passed. People should strictly adhere to all guidelines so that the spread can be controlled as soon as possible,'' he said.

He also assured that if cases come down in the next couple of days, restrictions will be lifted.

The Delhi government recently issued an order requiring all private organisations to 'work from home'. In addition, all restaurants and bars have been closed, and only home delivery is available.

The minister added that most of those who have died in the ongoing surge of infections had comorbidities and very few deaths have taken place due to coronavirus.

''People with comorbidities are facing more problems, not many people are coming to hospital for treatment of coronavirus,'' he said.

Jain said doctors at the Lok Nayak Hospital informed him on Tuesday only six out the 36 patients in their ICU had ''severe'' Covid infection.

''Thirty patients had other problems as primary reason and not COVID-19-induced issues like pneumonia or lung failure like last time,'' he said. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that out of the 136 Covid patients at the Lok Nayak Hospital (till Tuesday), 130 had come for treatment of other problems and tested positive at the time of admission.

The national capital had reported 23 fatalities on Tuesday. It has already recorded 93 fatalities in the first 11 days of the month.

It had logged 54 fatalities in the last five months -- nine in December, seven in November, four in October, five in September and 29 in August. In July, the virus had claimed 76 lives in the national capital.

The health minister also welcomed the Centre's new guidelines for COVID-19 testing, saying ''if you do not have any symptoms, are aged below 60 and do not have any comorbidity, you do not need to get tested''.

The presence of the virus in the human body is not a matter of concern until symptoms emerge, he said.

He added that very few children are contracting the infection, and only those having pre-existing problems may need hospitalisation.

Jain said Delhi has 31,000 Covid beds at present. This number can be increased to 37,000 if required, but there is no need for that yet.