Delhi may see 20-25,000 cases a day by mid-January and hospitalisations may increase, government sources said today as a top panel discussed new restrictions in the capital.
At the current rate of infection, Delhi may report 8-9,000 daily cases by January 8, top sources in the Union Health Ministry told NDTV.
"By January 15, there could be 20-25,000 daily cases in Delhi," the sources said, cautioning against underestimating the Omicron surge.
"Britain has started reporting deaths, so we cannot take the new wave or Omicron lightly. The number of hospitalisations in AIIMS has increased and it is worrying. As cases rise, so will the number of people in hospitals," they asserted.
Health Ministry officials said both the Omicron and Delta variants are driving Covid cases in the country.
More than 50 people have been admitted to Delhi's AIIMS in the past two-three days, say hospital sources.
The premier hospital has cancelled winter vacations and has asked its faculty to rejoin work immediately.
Delhi's positivity rate - the number of people testing positive for every 100 tests - is at 6.46 per cent, the highest since May.
A panel of experts will decide on tougher "Red Alert" restrictions under the colour-coded Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). "Yellow Alert" curbs are in place since December 29.
Last evening, Delhi reported 4,099 infections in a day. At least 10,000 new cases have been recorded in three days.
As Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that he had Covid with mild symptoms, his Health Minister urged people to be cautious and wear masks at all times for best protection.
Omicron, the highly infectious Covid variant first detected in November, has been found in most of the new samples tested in Delhi. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said 81 per cent samples in three labs were found to have Omicron.
A total of 1,892 cases of the Omicron variant have been found across 23 states and Union Territories and Maharashtra (568) and Delhi (382) top the list. Today, 37,379 new cases were reported in the country.
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