Sharp rise in Covid cases, hospitalizations up by two fold

NEW DELHI: The national capital has been reporting a surge in Covid cases recently. On August 1, the number of Covid patients in Delhi was only 3.23 percent. But yesterday it increased to 6.23 percent. Active cases have risen from 4,274 on August 1 to 6,809 on August 17. Five deaths have occurred since Saturday. The number of patients in the ICU was 98 on August 1 and now it has increased to 202. But a slight reduction in the positivity rate has turned out to be a relief. The positivity rate was 9.92 percent yesterday. Health workers say that the newly mutated virus has caused the disease to spread quickly and resulting in hospitalization.

Most of the infected people are those who are not properly vaccinated. Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has requested people to be ready to take booster doses as soon as possible in view of the increase in cases. The number of patients is also increasing in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, due to the increasing number of covid cases in the country, the Covid restrictions for flight travel have been tightened. As per the instructions issued by the DGCA to the commercial airlines, they have been asked to ensure that the passengers strictly follow the Covid norms. Passengers are required to wear masks properly and maintain proper hygiene at all times. DGCA has also allowed airline companies to take punitive action against violators.