Delhi Breaks All Records As 17,282 Fresh Covid-19 Cases Reported In 24 Hrs, Highest Since Pandemic Began

The third wave of Coronavirus in Delhi has also led to a significant surge in deaths leading to difficulties in managing resources in city's crematoriums and graveyards.

(File Photo/ PTI)

New Delhi: Surging past its highest number of daily Coronavirus cases, Delhi on Wednesday recorded as many as 17,282 and 104 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this, national capital's total caseload has mounted to 7,67,438 and the number of active cases has reached 50,736.

Menwhile, 7,05,162 people have recovered from the virus and have been discharged from hospitals.

Even the death toll due to Covid-19 has risen to 11,540 in the city after 104 more people succumbed to the deadly contagion.

The record new positive cases came out of 1.08 lakh tests conducted in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said, adding, the positivity rate now reached 15.92 per cent.

Delhi crematoriums, graveyards struggle to manage resources

The third wave of Coronavirus in Delhi has also led to a significant surge in deaths leading to difficulties in managing resources in city's crematoriums and graveyards as the outbreak has killed as many as 409 people in a span of just 13 days.

Mashqoor Rashid, a member of the management committee of the graveyard at ITO, told news agency PTI that bodies of Covid-19 patients were being sent there from across the city as local cemeteries are getting overwhelmed.

14 Private Hospitals In Delhi Declared 'Fully Covid'

In a recent announcement, Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government declared as many as 14 big private hospitals as fully Covid-care centres. All these hospitals declared as fully Covid hospitals have been asked not to admit any non-Covid patients till further order.

Those hospitals which are declared as fully Covid hospitals include Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Sir Ganga Ram, Holy Family, Maharaja Agarsen Hospital (Punjabi Bagh), Max Hospital (Shalimar Bagh), Fortis Hospital (Shalimar Bagh), Venkateshwar Hospital, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, Jaipur Golden Hospital, Mata Chanan Devi Hospital, Pushpawati Singhania Research Institute, Manipal Hospital, and Saroj Super Specialty Hospital.

Only Emergency Surgeries In Delhi Govt Hospitals

Additionally, the Delhi government has also announced that only emergency surgeries would be taken on priority in government-run hospitals, while planned surgeries will not be available till further orders.

"Planed surgeries are in high number while emergency surgeries are usually in less number. Therefore, hospitals authorities have been directed to admit non-covod patients only if it is emergency case," Kejriwal said earlier this week.

The highest single-day spike in Delhi till the third wave of the pandemic was 8,593 cases, reported on November 11 last year, while on November 18, the city had recorded 131 deaths due to the virus, highest single-day fatality count till date.