Delhi reports 24,375 COVID-19 cases, 167 deaths in a single day; every fourth sample tests positive

New Delhi: Delhi on Saturday recorded the biggest jump in its daily COVID-19 tally with 24,375 fresh cases, and 167 people died due to the disease in the last 24 hours, while the positivity rate also shot up to 24.56 percent — meaning every fourth sample being tested in the city is turning out to be positive. A day ago, 19,486 COVID-19 cases and 141 related deaths were reported in the city. Amid escalating coronavirus cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the pandemic situation in the city has become “very serious and worrisome”, with oxygen stock, and Remdesivir and Tocilizumab drugs for patients in short supply. He said the number of beds are also running out fast and the Delhi government is trying to escalate beds on a large scale in the coming days. “The cases of COVID-19 are rising fast in Delhi. In the last 24 hours, around 24,000 fresh cases have been reported. Within a day, the number has gone up from around 19,500 to around 24,000. So, the situation is very serious and worrisome,” Kejriwal said. He said nobody knows when the peak of the current wave will come and therefore, it was needed to be fully prepared to deal with the emerging situation. If the COVID-19 situation becomes more serious, the Delhi government will take all the steps needed to prevent loss of lives, the chief minister said, indicating more restrictions in the coming days. Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, accompanied by Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, visited the Ambedkar Nagar Hospital on Saturday. “Inspected the Ambedkar Nagar Hospital. Instructed the hospital authorities to ensure no patient should face any inconvenience and there shouldn’t be any shortage of medical facilities,” tweeted Sisodia, who is also the “nodal minister” for COVID-19 management in Delhi. Jain also tweeted that he “convened a meeting of all HODs of GTB hospital with Dy CM @msisodia ji”. “The 1500 bedded hospital is the 2nd largest covid dedicated facility, working day & night to treat the patients. We have directed to take cognisance of manpower, ICU beds & crowd management amidst the surge,” he said in the tweet. With the fresh cases, the national capital’s cumulative tally has risen to 8,27,998. The death toll stands at 11,960, according to the latest bulletin. A total of 99,230 tests, including 69,206 RT-PCR tests and 30,024 rapid antigen tests, were conducted the previous day, the bulletin said. So far, over 7.46 lakh patients have recovered in Delhi, it added. The number of active cases in the city increased to 69,799 from 61,005 the day before, the bulletin stated. The number of people under home isolation increased to 32,156 from 29,705 on Friday, while that of containment zones mounted to 11,235 from 9,929 the day before, it said.