Capital sees 4,086 cases & 26 deaths

New Delhi: The national capital on Friday recorded 4,086 fresh cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day spike here in 34 days, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 6,189.

These fresh cases resulted from 58,568 tests conducted the previous day, pushing the infection tally in the city to over 3.48 lakh.

The previous highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases was recorded on September 19, when it stood at 4,071.

Since then fresh cases were reported below the 4,000-mark until on October 23.

Twenty-six more fatalities have been recorded, taking the death toll to 6,189, the bulletin said.

The tally of active cases on Friday rose to 26,001 from 25,237 the previous day.

The total number of cases climbed to 3,48,404, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, Lt Governor Anil Baijal on Friday asked officials to intensify surveillance, detection, contact tracing and quarantine efforts to arrest the spread of COVID-19 in the city during the ongoing festive season.

He issued the directions at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) held to take stock of the COVID-19 situation in the national capital, according to a statement from the LG's office.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Health Minister Satyendar Jain and Chief Secretary Vijay Dev, among others, attended the meeting.

Baijal, who is also the chairman of the DDMA, asked field officials to ensure strict enforcement of preventive and protective measures for the management of COVID-19.

"Advised all concerned to intensify surveillance, detection, contact tracing and quarantine of COVID positive cases while undertaking extensive IEC (information, education and communication) campaign. Emphasised on continued and coordinated efforts to combat COVID19 with regular monitoring and feedback from experts," Baijal said in a tweet.

"The festive season is crucial, let us join hands to practice COVID appropriate behaviour as a defence against the pandemic," the statement later quoted him as saying.

Baijal asked field officials to ensure strict enforcement of preventive and protective measures against the pandemic. He also called for continued monitoring of steps taken for COVID-19 management, it stated.

During the meeting, the principal secretary (health) gave a statistical overview of the COVID-19 situation in Delhi including recent trend of cases, testing, surveillance and containment measures.

Up to October 23, there are a total of 3,44,318 confirmed cases out of which 3,12,918 patients have recovered, the statement said.

There are 25,237 active cases in Delhi. The case fatality rate stands at 1.79 per cent, the recovery rate is 90.88 per cent, and the doubling rate is 69.31 days. The number of tests conducted per million population is 2,21,122, it said.

There are 15,739 dedicated COVID-19 beds, 12,642 oxygenated beds, 3,127 ICU beds and 1,264 ventilators beds in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals, it added.