Third wave: Cases should drop soon: Health Min

New Delhi: The national Capital is currently reeling under the "third wave" of the COVID-19 infection, but cases should begin to come down soon, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday.

Interacting with reporters, he also said that the Delhi government has filed a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court after the high court did not allow reserving 80 per cent ICU beds for COVID-19 patients at several private hospitals here.

Health Minister Jain said, "Yesterday, we issued an order to add 1,185 beds for COVID patients in both Delhi government hospitals and many private hospitals."

"Five hundred beds are to be augmented at city government-run COVID facilities, including 110 ICU beds," he said.

Asked about the spike in cases, Jain said, Delhi had seen first wave around June 23, second wave around September 17 and this is now the third wave of COVID-19 infection, and case should begin to come down as it has been a spell of rising cases in the last five to six days.

"Also, we had made preparations and issued orders to reserve 80 per cent ICU beds at many private hospitals, but the high court has stopped that, so we have filed an SLP in the Supreme Court," he

added.

Asked about the factors behind the third wave of the Coronavirus infection in Delhi, he said among other factors, it could be because of easing of restrictions and the "festive season", while reiterating the importance of wearing masks.

The national Capital recorded 6,953 new coronavirus cases and 79 deaths on Saturday, according to the official health bulletin.

"The total number of positive cases in Delhi stands at 4,30,784. The total active and recovered cases are 40,258 and 3,83,614, respectively, the bulletin said.

According to the bulletin, a total of 15,409 RT-PCR tests were conducted on Saturday while the number of rapid antigen tests was 42,024.

On Friday, Delhi recorded over 7,000 COVID-19 cases for the first time taking the tally to over 4.23 lakh.