New Delhi: As the daily surge in Covid-19 cases came down slightly on Thursday, with a considerably low testing number, the positivity rate in the Capital shot up to over 20 per cent — meaning that now one in every five tests conducted is coming back positive for Covid-19.
Delhi on Thursday reported 16,699 fresh infections but at the same time also reported 112 fresh deaths from the virus. The last time daily deaths rose to these levels was in November during the city's third peak, according to the official health bulletin data of the Delhi government.
This comes a day after the national Capital registered 17,282 new infections, its highest single-day spike till date. The number of cases has been on an upward spiral in the last few days.
Moreover, Covid-19 hospitalisations breached the 10,000-mark to reach 10,134 on Thursday as patients scrambled to get critical care in the Capital with social media and message boards flooded with SOS messages.
And amid this scenario, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested that the Central government add up to 2,700 Covid-19 beds in its hospitals in the city and also suggested that two MCD-run hospitals — Hindu Rao Hospital and the Swami Dayanand Hospital be converted into full Covid-19 facilities, which would further increase bed-strength by 900.
"There should be full cooperation and no politics on the matter. Delhi government will provide every possible help to the MCD hospitals, including funds," the CM had said while discussing the matter at Thursday's Covid-19 review meeting.
In the meeting, special focus was laid on the three-tier arrangement of health infrastructure — home isolation, Covid Care Centres, and an increase in beds and facilities in hospitals.
A senior official present in the meeting said that the government's current focus is on increasing the bed capacity so that adequate treatment is given to the people who require urgent assistance.
"If the labs where the tests are being conducted are facing issues, the sample size must be reduced to enable them to issue results within 24 hours," the CM added.
The senior official also added that the Capital has vaccines left only for the next six to seven days unless stocks are replenished but refused to divulge any other details.
Significantly, vaccinations dipped significantly on Thursday as official data showed 71,030 doses being administered in the last 24 hours. Just days ago, Delhi had managed to vaccinate over 1 lakh people in a day.