Delhi Reports 331 New COVID Cases, Highest Single-Day Rise Since June. Will ‘Yellow’ Alert Be Issued?

The surge in fresh Coronavirus cases in the last few days comes as Delhi is also seeing a spike in cases of the new Omicron variant.

Representative Photo: PTI

New Delhi: Delhi on Monday recorded 331 new COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day rise since June 9.

Along with this, the national capital also recorded one death, taking the overall death toll due to the Coronavirus infection in Delhi to 25,106.

According to data shared by the city health department, the positivity rate in Delhi has mounted to 0.68 per cent.

On Sunday, Delhi recorded 290 cases with a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent and one fatality.

On Saturday and Friday, the daily case counts had stood at 249 and 180 cases respectively.

The rise with 331 new COVID cases is the highest since June 9 when 337 cases were reported along with a positivity rate of 0.46 per cent, while 36 deaths were also recorded on that day.

Meanwhile, the number of cumulative cases on Monday stood at 14,43,683. Over 14.17 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.

The surge in fresh Coronavirus cases in the last few days comes as Delhi is also seeing a spike in cases of the new Omicron variant.

Delhi has recorded the maximum number of 142 cases, followed by Maharashtra at 141, Kerala 57, Gujarat 49, Rajasthan 43, and Telangana 41, as per Union Health Ministry’s data released earlier today.

 After Night Curfew, Is Delhi Heading Towards ‘Yellow’ Alert?

Notably, night curfew will be imposed in Delhi from 11 pm tonight, restricting the movement of individuals except those in exempted categories, due to rising COVID-19 cases and the threat posed by Omicron

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) announced that the night curfew will be in place from 11 pm to 5 am till further orders.

Those exempted from the curfew include government officials, judges and judicial officers, medical personnel, pregnant women and patients, people going on foot to buy essential items, media persons, and people going to or returning from railway stations, bus stops, and airports.

As per the DDMA order, only people in the exempted category will be allowed in Metro trains and public transport buses during the night curfew hours.

According to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), a ‘yellow’ alert is sounded if the positivity rate stays at 0.5 per cent on two consecutive days.

On Sunday, Delhi reported a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent which has now mounted to 0.68 per cent. So, the national capital can see more curbs if the daily infections continue to rise at this rate.

A number of restrictions, including night curfew, closure of schools and colleges, halved seating capacity in Metro trains and buses, closure of non-essential shops and malls among others, kick in with the ‘yellow’ alert, PTI reported.

In terms of COVID fatalities, seven deaths were reported in Delhi in November this year while four such deaths were logged in October and five in September.

(With Agency Inputs)