Delhi Chief  Minister on Sunday presented an analysis of the data relating to Covid-19 to highlight the point that there was no need to get panicky because of the fast-rising cases of the coronavirus in the national capital.

Addressing a digital press conference, the Chief Minister said, “If we compare the situation now when Covid-19 cases are rising fast for the past few days and what happened during the second wave of the pandemic in April last year, we find that there are very few cases which need to be hospitalised, put on oxygen support or ventilator support. Deaths due to the coronavirus infection are also almost negligible.”

Claiming that the situation at all is not worrying, he said, “People should not panic because of the spike in the number of fresh cases of Covid-19 detected daily for a few days. In any case, the Delhi government has made all the necessary arrangements to handle any untoward situation effectively if it takes the form of a major crisis.”

He appealed to people that despite the situation that prevailed, everybody must take all the necessary precautions and wear a face mask while going out of one’s houses, maintain social distancing and wash one’s hands with soap properly when one is back home.

He pointed out that going by the current data, the active cases in Delhi are 6,360. Today, there is the possibility of over 3,100 new cases being identified. Only 246 hospital beds were occupied yesterday. All coronavirus cases at this stage are “mild and asymptomatic”.

Kejriwal said, “Only 82 oxygen beds in hospitals are occupied as the situation exists now. But the government is ready to handle the situation with 37,000 beds. In any case, all new cases had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic. This means that people need not get panicky following the spike in new cases for a few days.”

He informed that on 1 January, the national capital reported a big surge in Covid-19 cases. These cases shot up to 2,716, showing a jump of 920 infections compared to the tally of 1,796 on 31 December.

Earlier, the single-day case count in the city near this level was on 21 May 2021 — 3,009 positive cases — during the second wave of the pandemic.