New Delhi: On Tuesday, National Capital reported no fresh COVID-19 deaths, after a gap of over 10 months. For Delhi, this is a landmark in its fight against the pandemic since March last year. According to the health bulletin, the national capital recorded 100 new cases of the infection and 144 recoveries in the last 24 hours.
Congratulating Delhiites on this success, Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain took to his social media and thanked people of Delhi for following COVID protocol and taking precautions, as well as healthcare and frontline workers who have been on the job since the first COVID-19 case was reported in March 2020. He tweeted,
Today no death has been reported due to COVID infection. Delhi’s collective will is gradually winning over the infection. I congratulate the people of Delhi for taking proper precautions and our healthcare and frontline workers who have fought this battle tooth and nail.
Also Read: COVID-19 Vaccine Explainer: How Do Vaccines Work?
Today no death has been reported due to COVID infection.
Delhi's collective will is gradually winning over the infection.
I congratulate the people of Delhi for taking proper precautions and our healthcare and frontline workers who have fought this battle tooth and nail. pic.twitter.com/0sHbPurjgk— Satyendar Jain (@SatyendarJain) February 9, 2021
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also congratulated people on achieving this feat and tweeted in Hindi, saying, it was a “good news for Delhiites”. He further said,
Today no death has been reported due to COVID infection in Delhi. Congratulations to people of Delhi. Corona cases have also come down and vaccination drive has picked up pace. People of Delhi have fought a tough battle against Corona. We have to still take all precautions.
सभी अभिभावकों और बच्चों को बधाई।
कोरोना को हराकर हमें अब धीरे-धीरे अपने स्कूलों की रौनक वापस लानी है। हमारे स्कूल अपने बच्चों का इंतज़ार कर रहे हैं। https://t.co/ja2SUUocHu
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) February 10, 2021
Also Read: Coronavirus Vaccine Glossary: 15 Terms To Know About Vaccination
In Numbers: Delhi’s Coronavirus Cases
Currently, in Delhi the positivity rate stands at 0.18 per cent, according to a bulletin issued by the Delhi health department on Tuesday evening. The infection tally in the city rose to 6,36,260 FROM??, authorities said. The active cases tally on Tuesday dropped to 1,052 from 1,096 the previous day, according to the bulletin.
In terms of tests, the total number of tests conducted on Monday, included 31,300 RT-PCR tests and 25,110 rapid antigen tests.
Whereas, in terms of the beds, as per the Tuesday bulletin, out of the total number of 6,050 beds in COVID hospitals, 5,554 are vacant.
Another reason why Delhi’s numbers are falling is the fact that apart from testing and increased contract tracing, the Delhi Government had adopted another strategy to bring the numbers down – creation of micro-containment zones. Since December 2020, the number of containment zones have also been dipping – from 6,000 in December to 962 ON MONDAY AND 950 on Tuesday, authorities said. The number of people in home isolation dropped to 441 on Tuesday from 442 the previous day.
The drop in coronavirus cases and Covid-linked mortality rate also comes as the vaccination programme in the country entered its fourth week. Those who received the first shot of the vaccine on January 16 are expected to receive the booster dose on February 13. The same day when national capital reported zero COVID deaths for the first time, Delhi also inoculated over 12,000 people in a single day on Tuesday. As per the authorities, a total of 12,717 health-care and front-line workers received the shot across 183 vaccination sites in Delhi.
Also Read: Vaccine Explainer: How Does Immunisation Protect Against A Disease?
Whereas, the total tally of frontline workers who have received their COVID-19 jab has crossed the one lakh mark, as per the authorities.
Dr V K Paul, NITI Aayog Member (Health) said that from the pandemic point of view, “consistent gains” are being made in terms of declining new cases and deaths. However, he said, the last national sero-survey findings have shown that over 70 per cent of the population are “still susceptible” to the disease and stressed that herd immunity has to be achieved through vaccination. He added,
Deaths are being reported below 100 consistently and in the last 24 hours no new death has been reported in Delhi, but we still need to be cautious and follow COVID appropriate behaviour at all times.
Cautioning the people about the gains, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria added,
It is not just Delhi, but overall, in India’s numbers we are seeing a decline and there are multiple factors for this, one reason could be that areas where there were high chance of the infection or virus spreading, possibly due to crowding or people living very close to each other, there we may have already achieved the immunity as more and more people have got infected. Secondly, in cities and rural areas, where people live at a distance, as compared to urban villages, there is a possibility that the virus chain was broken. Thirdly, we are a country of younger population and therefore many individuals here may have got a milder disease and recovered.
Dr Guleria also said that even though we are in a good position we need to be very cautious. He added,
We need to look at Brazil, the people there felt they have come out of the pandemic, they felt they have achieved herd immunity and their life came back to normal and then they had a new variant, which was more infectious. So, even if our numbers are down at the moment, we need to be very very vigilant as we move ahead as things can change as we have seen in other countries like the UK and South Africa. So, good surveillance, good observation and COVID appropriate behaviour and at the same time trying to vaccinate as many people as possible and as early, I think, should be the way forward for India.
NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.
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