Fresh infections in Delhi have pushed the city's overall tally to record highs (File)
Delhi has reported 7,897 new coronavirus cases and 39 deaths in the last 24 hours. With this, the national capital's positivity rate has risen to over 10 per cent, the highest since November 23. Delhi now has over 7.1 lakh cases.
On Friday, Delhi had reported over 8,500 cases of coronavirus in the year's biggest one-day spike. The jump in cases yesterday was second only to the highest-ever reported on November 11 last year with 8,593 cases.
As India grapples with the second wave of coronavirus, believed to be more severe than the first wave, the Centre and several states, including Delhi, have imposed new restrictions to curb the spread. The government has blamed the resurgence mainly on crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as shops and offices have reopened.
Delhi is witnessing the fourth wave of Covid, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said today, adding that there is a need to speed up vaccination and improve hospital management to control the spike.
Night curfews have been imposed in Delhi till April 30 as fresh infections pushed the overall tally to record highs.
All schools and colleges will continue to remain shut in Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Friday.
However, the chief minister has ruled out the possibility of a lockdown, saying new restrictions will be implemented in the national capital soon and that the national capital has enough vaccines to last nearly 10 days.
"If we are provided with enough vaccine doses, age bar for vaccination is removed and we get approval to open more vaccination centers on a larger scale then we can vaccinate people within 2-3 months in Delhi. Currently, we have vaccines for 7-10 days. There will be no lockdown. New restrictions will be imposed soon," Mr Kejriwal said while speaking with reporters outside the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital today.
Delhi has reported 7,14,423 cases of coronavirus so far with 11,235 deaths. Over 6.74 lakh patients have recovered from the virus in the national capital. The number of active cases now stands at 28,773.
India witnessed an unprecedented spike of 1,45,384 fresh coronavirus cases today, the highest single-day jump so far, as the country's tally surged to 1,32,05,0926. Several states continue to struggle to contain a second wave of infections, complaining of vaccine shortages and demanding inoculations be expanded to younger people.