The most recent sero-survey had suggested that over 50% of the city’s population had Covid antibodies.
For the last three days, Delhi has been reporting over 200 cases of Covid-19 in a day, a slight rise from the cases reported over the past month. On Friday, the city saw 256 new cases and one death, taking the total number of cases in Delhi so far to 6,38,849. The death toll has been recorded at 10,906.
On Thursday the city saw 220 cases, and 200 cases on Wednesday.
With cases dipping, the city has opened up businesses and eased restrictions on movement. Dr Jugal Kishore, head of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital and Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, said: “It looks like a fluctuating trend and we need to observe the curve. The curve is going down internationally and we are not expecting any deviation. At present, half of the population is already infected and cases are expected from the areas where the prevalence rate was low. The cases will keep coming up from these areas. The disease will not vanish so we may continue to see cases. What we need to focus on is social distancing behaviour. People should continue following it and those having any symptoms should isolate themselves and refrain from stepping out. We need to keep a watch on the behaviour of the virus.”
The most recent sero-survey had suggested that over 50% of the city’s population had Covid antibodies.
“We need to take care of the mild cases and those having influenza-like symptoms should be managed well at home and avoid moving around. The government should continue with the contact tracing as genetic changes in the virus are expected to be there,” he added.
States like Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh have been witnessing an upsurge in the daily Covid-19 cases. In Delhi, the daily positivity rate has been hovering around 0.35-0.41% with the authorities conducting 50,000-60,000 tests a day.
Dr Shobha Broor, former head of microbiology at AIIMS, said: “People should worry about the rising number of Covid-19 cases. People should continue wearing masks for at least a year and not ignore the initial symptoms of the disease. The vaccination has begun but it doesn’t mean that one should ignore the social distancing rules. We need to take this virus seriously.”
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