No need for panic, says Delhi govt amid rising Covid cases

Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj held a meeting with experts on Thursday to assess the Covid situation in the national capital and said there was no need to panic because of a spurt in cases.

The meet came a day after Delhi's Covid-19 cases climbed to 300 for the first time since August 31 last year, while the positivity rate rose to 13.89 per cent, according to the data shared by the health department. Two Covid-related deaths were also reported, it said.

Addressing a press conference, Bharadwaj said they were getting some indicators about the spike in Covid cases but they are fully prepared.

"Last night, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called me to discuss about the Covid situation and he asked me to convene an emergency meeting on Thursday. In the meeting today, epidemiologist, genome sequencing expert, special secretary (health) were present and we analysed the situation closely," he said.

He said there is no need to panic due to the high positivity rate.

Sources said Bharadwaj was briefed about the hospitalisation rate and the symptoms in patients. He was told that the genome sequencing of samples has shown that the surge is driven by the XBB variant of the coronavirus and its sub-variants and there is no new variant.

Delhi reported 377 cases and two fatalities on August 31 last year, while the positivity rate was 2.58 per cent.

The city has been witnessing an increase in the number of daily Covid cases over the last few days amid a sharp rise in H3N2 influenza cases in the country.

The number of fresh cases had seen a decline over the last few months in Delhi. It had dropped to zero on January 16, the first time since the pandemic broke out.

With the fresh cases, Delhi's infection tally has increased to 20,09,361, while the death toll stands at 26,526.