Delhi Govt ramped up testing by 4 times, cases likely to increase: Satyendra Jain

Addressing the rising Coronavirus cases in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Thursday said that the number of new cases was likely to increase over the next few weeks since the government had ramped up testing by four times. "We have increased COVID19 testing four times due to which numbers are likely to rise in Delhi, for 10-15 days. This will help in isolating the positive cases and have a positive impact on the national capital," he said to news agency ANI. 

Talking about the bed availability in Delhi, Satyendra Jain said that about 50% of the beds in the capital city were occupied. "The bed availability here is 14,521 out of which 50% are occupied," he said. "We are also increasing ICU beds. Last week, we had given orders to some big private hospitals to reserve 80 percent of their ICU beds," he added.

Read: COVID-19: Delhi HC Suggests State Govt To Ramp Up Testing Through RT-PCR

Read: Delhi Records August's Highest Single-day Spike Of 1,840 COVID-19 Cases; Death Toll 4,369

Earlier Satyendra Jain had claimed that while Delhi Chief Minister gave instructions to double the COVID-19 testing but due to pressure from the Home Ministry, officials were not doing so. "Home Ministry should first see COVID-19 cases in Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and rest of India, then talk about managing Delhi. This is unfortunate that despite Delhi CM's approval for doubling the testing, the order had to be cleared by MHA also," he had said.

Delhi reported 4,473 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. A total of 62,553 tests were conducted in a single day while the positivity rate was 7.15 yesterday. The death rate is 0.7 per cent from the last 10 days. 

The total number of cases stands at 2,30,269, of which 30,914 are active cases and 1,94,516 have recovered, migrated out of the city or discharged, authorities said. The capital city recorded its highest single-day spike of 4,473 fresh coronavirus cases on Wednesday. 

(Image Credits- PTI)

Read: 'Delhi Govt To Conduct Sero-surveillance Every Month', Says Health Minister Satyendra Jain

Read: Delhi Records 4,473 New COVID-19 Cases, Highest Single-day Spike So Far; Death Toll Reaches 4,839