NEW DELHI: Allaying fears over the rising cases of Covid-19 in the capital, doctors said it was highly unlikely that the surge in infections would lead to severe illnesses at the scale witnessed during previous waves, due to immunity conferred by exposure to the virus as well as vaccinations.
While the positivity rate as well as daily cases of Covid-19 have been rising in Delhi since the beginning of April, fewer people are requiring hospitalisation, data shows.
Delhi has 9,735 beds designated for Covid-19. Of them, only 59 (0.61%) are occupied currently. This includes 29 confirmed cases and 30 suspected cases of Covid-19, data shared by the state government shows.
Delhi Corona App showed that a maximum of 13 beds were occupied in Kalawati Saran Children's hospital, followed by Ram Manohar Lohia hospital (8), Lok Nayak hospital (6) and Lady Hardinge Medical College (4).
"Covid-19 cases have certainly gone up over the past week but there's no need to panic as symptoms are mild, as it was the case in the third wave," Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director of Indraprastha Apollo hospital, said. He added that vaccination, including booster dose for people who completed their primary vaccination with two doses nine months ago, has certainly helped in reducing the risk of severe disease in vulnerable populations.
Many doctors say the number of cases being reported may well be a fraction of the actual incidence of the disease as a number of people who come in contact with a positive case or develop symptoms prefer to use home test kits or simply isolate themselves. "I have come across so many patients who don't want to get tested even if the doctor advises so," Dr Sibal said.
Dr N K Mehra, noted immunologist and former dean of AIIMS, said people should take personal measures to prevent illness, for example, wearing a mask in public places.
On Thursday and Friday, the daily tally and positivity rate of Covid-19 in Delhi stood at 366 and 3.95% and 325 and 2.39%, respectively.
