New Delhi, December 19: The national capital fought a war against COVID-19 pandemic and it appears to have cleared the third wave of the coronavirus as the city reported 1,133 new cases and a positivity rate of less than 1.5 per cent on Saturday, said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The first wave of this pandemic came to Delhi in the month of June when the number of cases started increasing and the number of deaths also increased, while in the month of August and September, the national capital witnessed the second wave of the pandemic. The city witnessed the third wave of COVID-19 in the month of October. COVID-19 Situation in Delhi Should Come Under Control in Next 7 to 10 Days, Main Reason Behind Spike in Cases Is Pollution, Says Arvind Kejriwal.

"Delhi fought a war against COVID-19 pandemic and today the third wave of Coronavirus is under control," Kejriwal said in a statement. Citing the example of New York, he said that when New York reached its peak the patients were lying on the streets and corridors of hospitals, but it was not the case in Delhi as 7,000 beds were lying vacant when the highest number of corona cases in a day were reported in the city due to good management.

"At one hand the pollution level of Delhi was increasing due to the stubble burning at the neighbouring states and on the other hand, the number of COVID-19 cases was also increasing," he said.

Highlighting the Delhi government's effort, the AAP chief said: "During this time, Delhi gave various new techniques to the world like home isolation and plasma therapy to fight against the pandemic. Delhi was the first state to announce Rs 1 crore financial assistance to the family in the case of COVID warriors' deaths in the line of duty."

He further informed that the number of active cases touched 45,000 in November and the city now has 12,000 active cases. "Today, Delhi has a recovery rate of 96.5 per cent; there were 131 deaths on November 19, but today they have come down to 37. Delhi is conducting 4,500 tests per 10 lakh population in a day. The number of tests per 10 lakh population is 670 in Uttar Pradesh, 800 in Gujarat, 4,300 in the US and in 4,800 in the UK," the Chief Minister mentioned.