Daily spike goes past 7,000 for first time

New Delhi: As the Delhi government on Friday issued orders, adding over 1,100 beds for COVID-19 patients at various state-run and private hospitals to "combat the third wave" of the pandemic, the Capital reported another highest daily spike in cases, recording 7,178 new cases on Friday, taking the tally here to over 4.23 lakh.

The city added 64 deaths to its toll from the virus, which climbed to 6,833. Significantly, these new cases emerged out of the 58,860 tests conducted in the last 24 hours, of which 15,666 were RT-PCR tests. The daily positivity rate stood at 12.19 per cent.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday tweeted and shared copies of official orders issued by his department to increase the capacity of beds at city government hospitals and 14 private facilities.

These hospitals include Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), DDU Hospital and Ambedkar Hospital. According to the order, a total of 500 extra beds will come up at these facilities.

Jain also tweeted, "Government has decided to augment the availability of 685 beds for Covid patients in these pvt hospitals in addition to the already existing ones."

The 14 private hospitals include Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Fortis hospital, Shalimar Bagh and Max hospital, Patparganj.