Cases nearly double; will wait and watch for Amber alert, says DDMA

New Delhi: Even as reported daily Covid-19 cases in the Capital nearly doubled on Wednesday with the daily positivity rate shooting up to 1.29 per cent, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority decided that it will wait and watch out for hospitalisation rates and other parameters before sounding the 'Amber' alert and increasing restrictions.

The DDMA on Wednesday decided that Covid-related restrictions imposed in Delhi under the 'yellow alert' will continue for the time being and authorities will monitor the situation for a while before deciding on fresh curbs, according to officials.

The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal, who is also the chairperson of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. It was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and several experts. In a series of tweets after the meeting, Baijal said, "It was decided to continue with the existing restrictions imposed recently in view of rising cases and to keep a close vigil on the ground situation."

"The Health department was advised to enhance the health preparedness to deal effectively with the emerging situation and to closely monitor bed occupancy besides strengthening the home isolation strategy," he said.

Delhi on Wednesday recorded 923 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest since May 30, while the positivity rate stood at 1.29 per cent, health department data showed.

Officials said authorities are in favour of monitoring the situation for some more time and to avoid imposing further restrictions under 'amber alert'.

An 'amber alert' under the colour-coded GRAP is declared when the positivity rate is recorded at one per cent or above for two consecutive days. It involves imposition of weekend curfew, closure of restaurants and bars, reducing seating capacity in Metro trains to 33 per cent and closure of shops selling non-essential items by 6 pm, among other things.

"The important thing is that hospital bed occupancy is low. It was decided that enforcement of the existing restrictions should be strictly done so that infections are contained. Further restrictions under 'amber alert' (Level 2) could be implemented if the need arises," a senior government official said.

According to official figures, out of the 8,965 dedicated Covid beds, 262 or 2.92 per cent were occupied and 97 per cent were vacant on December 28. The occupancy of oxygenated beds (8,405) was 3.04 per cent, ICU beds (2,769) 0.97 per cent and ventilators (1,379) 1.08 per cent. The vacancy on these beds ranged from 96 per cent to 99 per cent on December 28, the data showed.

Omicron dominant in latest samples

Meanwhile, as cases shoot up here, the results from genome sequencing 468 samples between December 21 and 28 showed that 38 per cent of the cases were of the Omicron variant — surpassing that of the Delta, which stood at 31 per cent. Other variants accounted for the rest of the samples.

Moreover, the city has already reported at least seven Omicron cases without any travel history prompting many doctors to conclude that the variant is now is community transmission.