Delhi CM says 4th wave 'more dangerous' as city reports highest ever surge

New Delhi: As Delhi hit a new peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting over 10,700 cases on Sunday night, the highest ever since the outbreak here, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal left a grim warning for residents saying that "this peak is even more dangerous than the one witnessed in November".

"Corona is rising rapidly in the entire country. In Delhi too, it has increased significantly in the past 10-15 days. It is the fourth wave in Delhi. Prior to this, Delhi has seen three waves; all of us Delhiites faced it quite nicely and it was resolved. The fourth wave is very dangerous. It is spreading very fast so much so that it is beyond the understanding of many people," the chief minister said.

"This peak is even more dangerous than the one we witnessed in November," he added.

He said that his government is working on three levels to control the spread of Coronavirus.

The CM said that if people cooperate and the hospital facilities stay under control the government will not impose a lockdown. "However, in case the number of beds in hospitals starts falling short, we might have to impose a lockdown. I am not in favour of lockdown. I just need your cooperation. The first point was to stop its spread, second was with regard to hospital management and the third is vaccination," Kejriwal said.

The CM encouraged people to use face masks and sanitisers and maintain social distancing and not go for private hospitals only as they have limited beds. He added that even government hospitals have enough beds and can provide quality treatment to all.

The chief minister went on to ask people to choose government facilities over private healthcare service providers. "Good treatment would be provided even in government hospitals. If your app shows that beds are available in government hospitals, then please go there," he said.

"We do not want to impose a lockdown but yesterday, helplessly, the government has been ordered to impose a few restrictions. For instance, buses would ply only at 50 per cent capacity, there would be 50 per cent occupancy in the metros, bars and restaurants would function at 50 per cent occupancy - such restrictions have been imposed for your own safety and health. I would like to appeal to you all to follow it properly," CM Kejriwal said.

Delhi has so far detected a total of 7.25 lakh cases, with recoveries at over 6.79 lakh. Since the pandemic began, the virus has killed over 11,283.