Third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Delhi ‘on the wane’: Satyendar Jain

Delhi recorded 2,463 new COVID-19 cases and 50 fatalities on Wednesday, the lowest number of deaths in a single day since November 1.

New Delhi: The third wave of COVID-19 pandemic in the national capital is not over yet but it is “definitely on the wane”, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday.

Delhi recorded 2,463 new COVID-19 cases and 50 fatalities on Wednesday, the lowest number of deaths in a single day since November 1.

As the positivity rate slipped to 3.42 per cent, Jain had on Wednesday tweeted that it was heartening to see that the national capital is “emerging victorious” in the battle against the coronavirus.

“Cases are falling, and death count in a day is lowest in the last 40 days. The situation has improved, and we can definitely say the third wave of the pandemic here is on the wane. It is not over, but on the wane,” he told reporters on Thursday.

On plans of COVID-19 vaccination, he said, healthcare workers and frontline staff will be administered the vaccine first, followed by the elderly and then others.

“If we have vaccine availability, we can vaccinate the entire population in a week’s time, we have the preparations ready,” he added.

Asked about non-COVID-19 patients needing ICU beds, he said, “We will review the situation. But ICU beds can’t be managed overnight, if cases suddenly increase, so we had to see the trend stabilise first”.

He asserted that over 13,000 beds are available for COVID-19 patients in Delhi, which is “not there in any city of the country”, adding that 2,500 ICU beds are also available for them.

Asked how many people have registered for the COVID-19 vaccine, he said, about two lakh till Wednesday.

He reiterated that the overall positivity rate is is less than 5 per cent for the last seven days.

Also, RT-PCR positivity rate is now down to 6 per cent, and since early November, a fall of about 80 per cent in positivity rate, which is a satisfactory trend, Jain said.