Delhi may register around 14K new cases on Thursday: Jain
A day after Delhi registered more than 10,000 Covid positive cases, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday that the city is likely to report around 14,000 fresh cases today.
“Covid cases in Delhi have seen a sharp rise in the past few days. Many more cases have come, today it is going to be near 14,000,” Jain said.
It was on Wednesday when the cases nearly double from 5,481 recorded on Tuesday to 10,665 on Wednesday. It was the biggest single-day spike in Delhi since May 12.
Eight deaths were also recorded — the highest since June 26.
Jain assured Delhiites on Wednesday that most people contracting the Omicron variant of Covid-19 are reporting mild symptoms. The government is closely monitoring the rise in cases and no lockdown will be imposed in the city for the time being, he said.
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Jain said global data showed that the Omicron variant is less dangerous than the Delta variant.
“People coming from abroad are the ones who are most affected by the omicron variant. Until now, no patient is in critical need of oxygen, and the majority of patients have mild symptoms,” Jain said in the press briefing.
He said: “The government is keeping a close eye on the situation. This is the fifth wave to hit Delhi, and the third for the entire country. For the time being, the situation in Delhi is under control. In Delhi’s hospitals, there are plenty of beds available.”
“There was no need for all patients’ genomes to be sequenced; it was just a research process to see if Omicron was spreading in society or not. Because the majority of the patients are Omicron positive, there is no need to perform genome sequencing on all of them. However, random samples’ genomes are still being sequenced,” he said.
