Delhi Records 1,796 Covid Cases On New Year's Eve, Highest In Seven Months

Delhi Covid-19 Cases: The active caseload is at 4,410 in Delhi while 467 people have been discharged, taking the total recoveries to 14,18,694.

Long queues outside a metro station in Delhi (PTI)

New Delhi: Delhi registered 1,796 fresh Covid-19 cases in a span of 24 hours on New Year's eve - the highest in seven months. The national capital, which has issued a 'yellow alert' and imposed several restrictions, saw a jump of 483 Covid-19 cases over the previous day.

The positivity rate has rose to 2.44 per cent. The active caseload is at 4,410 while 467 people have been discharged, taking the total recoveries to 14,18,694.

This single-day rise is the highest since May 22 when 2,260 cases were logged with a positivity rate of 3.58 per cent. As many as 182 deaths were also recorded on that day.

On Friday, the heart of the national capital -- Connaught Place -- which generally used to teem with people on the eve of every New Year, witnessed subdued celebrations. Heavy police presence was seen in and around the inner, middle, and outer circles of Connaught Place, IANS reported.

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Delhi has also been registering a rise in Omicron cases and currently has more than 320 infections. The number of containment zones has also increased by more than eight times from the beginning of this month, PTI reported.

#WATCH | In Hauz Khas, Delhi Police asks revellers to go home before the night curfew kicks in at 10 pm #NewYear2022 #Omicron pic.twitter.com/qFVpt0DR9E

— ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2021

On December 1, the number of containment zones in Delhi stood at 102. Presently, the number of containment zones has increased to 823.

Restrictions have been imposed in Delhi as part of the yellow alert under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) to check the spread of Covid-19. 

These include closure of schools, capping the number of attendees at marriages and funerals to 20 and restricting metro and buses to run with 50 per cent seating capacity. Night curfew is also in place from 10 am to 5 pm.