Delhi likely to report fresh 14,000 COVID19 cases today: Satyendar Jain

"Delhi being the capital of the country has been the first to impose maximum restrictions, it doesn`t seem like a lockdown is needed right now," said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

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New Delhi: Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday (January 6, 2022) said that the city is likely to witness 14,000 fresh COVID-19 cases today pushing the daily positivity rate to around 14 percent.

While addressing the media, Satyendar Jain said, "Delhi is likely to witness 14,000 fresh COVID cases today and the daily positivity rate may rise to around 14 percent. No confirmed death has been reported due to the `Omicron` variant of COVID-19 in Delhi. Delhi government is conducting more than 90,000 tests on a daily basis."

Additionally, the Delhi government has reduced the quarantine period for home isolation to 7 days from 14 days. The Health Minister added that the Delhi government has increased the number of oxygen beds and ventilator beds in private and government hospitals.

While talking about the COVID-19 restrictions, Jain said, "Delhi being the capital of the country has been the first to impose maximum restrictions, it doesn`t seem like a lockdown is needed right now."

Earlier, on Wednesday, Delhi reported 10,665 coronavirus cases today, a massive rise of 94% in daily cases compared to yesterday. The number of Covid patients shot up from 5481 to 10,665, the biggest single-day spike since May 12. The national capital also saw 8 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest since June 26. The positivity rate shot up to 11.88 percent, officials said. 

Meanwhile, India recorded 90,928 new COVID-19 cases, 325 deaths in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll to 4,82,876, as per data released by the Ministry of Health on Thursday. The active cases stand at 2,85,401. An increase of 71,397 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. The country also recorded 19,206 recoveries today, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,43,41,009.