Written By: Satata Karmakar | Updated : May 11, 2022 11:00 AM IST
COVID-19 Fourth Wave: Delhi Sees 40% Jump In Infections, 1,118 New Cases Reported In 24 Hours
A day after registering a drop in the daily cases, the national capital on Wednesday reported a 40 per cent jump. According to the reports, Delhi added 1,118 new cases of the COVID-19 infection in the last 24 hours, pushing its cumulative tally to 1,896,171. The city's positivity rate now stands at 4.38 per cent. The national capital on Monday had reported 799 new coronavirus cases and three deaths -- the single-day fatality count highest in over two months -- while the positivity rate had stood at 4.94 per cent. However, on Sunday, the city had logged a total of 1,422 new cases, which means that for two straight days (Monday and Tuesday), the national capital has seen a significant rise or fall in its fresh infections from those on the previous day.
The sudden jump in daily cases to continuous mutations in the spike protein of the virus - are these signals of a fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India? In a recent statement, an IIT Kanpur Professor has said that another wave in India is extremely unlikely. The reasons he stated are that most people are fully immunised against the virus and as of now there is no new virus strain which can trigger a massive surge in the country.
The spurt in COVID-19 cases and the test positivity rate in Delhi over the last few weeks do not suggest the onset of a new wave, but people should keep basic mitigation measures in place to prevent the spread of the infection. Eminent epidemiologist Dr Chandrakant Lahariya had earlier said the test positivity rate is stagnant, which means the infection is spreading at the same rate and that there is no 4th wave of COVID-19.
According to the experts, the sudden spike in cases is due to the upliftment of the COVID safety protocols in the country. The Delhi government had uplifted all the COVID pandemic safety protocols earlier last month, the decision was taken after the city saw a drop in daily cases. However, the cases started rising soon after and as of now, the city is still seeing a daily surge in cases.
(With inputs from agencies)
