COVID-19 cases rising in Delhi but no need to panic, hospitalisation low: Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: As the number of COVID-19 cases increase in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday (January 2, 2022) told Delhites to 'not panic'.

In a press conference, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief said that the patients tested with COVID-19 are 'mild' and are not requiring hospitalisation. 

He also informed that the oxygen beds in the national capital are not being occupied at the speed they were during the second wave of coronavirus.

"As of now, only 82 oxygen beds in hospitals are occupied. Delhi government is prepared will 37,000 beds. I just want to tell you that all new cases are with mild symptoms and are asymptomatic, so there is no need to panic," the Delhi CM said.

"Active COVID-19 cases rose from about 2,000 on December 29 to 6,000 on January 1, but the number of patients in hospitals dipped in this period," Kejriwal added.

दिल्ली में कोरोना संक्रमण की वर्तमान स्थिति पर महत्वपूर्ण प्रेस कॉन्फ़्रेंस | LIVE https://t.co/qliIQHzdx0 — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 2, 2022

Kejriwal's remarks came a day after the national capital recorded 2,716 fresh infections, the highest single-day rise since May 21.

Saturday's tally of coronavirus cases, fuelled by the Omicron variant, was 51 per cent higher than that of Friday and Delhi's positivity rate has now mounted to 3.64 per cent. 

Delhi has also recorded 351 cases of Omicron so far. Till Monday, there were only 142 cases of the new variant of COVID-19.

Delhi Health Bulletin - 1st January 2022 #delhiFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/LOl8BEKOZW — CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) January 1, 2022

This is noteworthy that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on December 28 declared 'Yellow alert' in Delhi, under which schools, colleges, cinemas and gyms were closed, shops dealing in non-essential items are opening on an odd-even basis, and metro trains and buses are running with 50 per cent of seating capacity in the city.

If the situation deteriorates, the Delhi Government can sound the 'Amber' alert under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) and impose further restrictions. The 'Amber' alert comes into effect when the positivity rate rises above one per cent or new cases number 3,500 or oxygenated bed occupancy reaches 700.

This alert invokes the same responses mostly as the 'Yellow' one except that malls and shops of non-essential goods and services will only be allowed to open between 10 AM and 6 PM. The Delhi Metro will also run at 33 per cent of its seating capacity and dining facilities in restaurants will not be allowed, but home delivery or take away service will continue. 

The barbershops, saloons, beauty parlours will be closed along with public parks and gardens. 

Marriage related gatherings may only be allowed up to 20 persons with the restriction that it is organised in court or at home only. Only up to 20 persons will be allowed in funeral-related gatherings.

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