Delhi: Covid hospitalisations go up as cases spike

New Delhi, Aug 16: Hospitalisations are up in Delhi as the city reports a surge in coronavirus cases, authorities warned on Tuesday, urging people to adhere to Covid-appropriate behaviour.

"We are witnessing a rise in COVID19 infections, consistently high positivity & cases of reinfection. It is essential that we realise that the pandemic is far from over. I appeal to all to strictly adhere to COVID Appropriate Behaviour. We cannot afford to let our guards down," Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena said in a tweet.

"The recovery rate is good, but cases are rising and hospitalisation has picked up. Over 500 (Covid) beds are occupied at the moment of the 9,000. Over 20 of the 2,129 ICU beds are occupied. 65 patients on are ventilation at the moment," Public health expert Dr Suneela Garg, a member of the Lancet Commission, told NDTV.

"There is no need to panic, but this is a marker of caution," she added.

Meanwhile, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said that people who have taken their booster or precaution doses are safer than those who have not been inoculated with them.

"People who have taken precaution dose of Covid vaccines safer than others. Delhi govt has expedited booster dose inoculation. Ninety per cent of corona-infected patients admitted to the hospital are those patients who have taken only two doses of the vaccine. At the same time, only 10 per cent of the patients got corona infected after the third dose of the vaccine," Manish Sisodia said.

"It is clear from this that people who apply precautionary doses are safer from coronavirus infection," he asserted.

Delhi on Tuesday reported 917 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 19.20 per cent and three deaths due to the infection, according to data shared by the city health department.

With the fresh infections and fatalities, Delhi's caseload went up to 19,86,739 and the death toll to 26,392, it said.

The fresh cases came out of 4,775 tests, the health department said in its latest bulletin.

On Monday, the national capital had reported 1,227 cases with a positivity rate of 14.57 per cent, while eight more people died due to the disease.

Before this, the city logged more than 2,000 cases daily for 12 consecutive days.