Delhi Reports 3,797 COVID-19 Cases In 24 Hours, Number Of Tests Below 30,000; ‘Crossed Peak Of Third Wave, No Lockdown’ Says Health Minister Satyendar Jain

Delhi reported 3,797 new COVID-19 cases & 99 coronavirus-linked deaths in the past 24 hours, data showed on the night of November 16. The data also showed that only 29,821 tests had been conducted in a day. The data revealed that the positivity rate was still nearly two-and-a-half times worse than the national average. This is the second consecutive day that the number of daily new cases in the national capital is below 4,000. This is a welcome statistic, given the city logged over 7,000 cases per day between November 10 & 14 and over 5,000 per day from November 3. The number of deaths, though, remains around the 100-mark; 95 were reported on November 15 & 91 on November 14. The drop in testing, which Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has declared will now cross one lakh per day, has been attributed to a shortage of staff because of the festive season. Union Home Minister Amit Shah met with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on November 15 to discuss the situation in Delhi. On November 17, Health Minister Satyendar Jain dismissed the possibility of another lockdown in the capital. He claimed that "the peak of Delhi's third wave is gone". The overall number of cases in Delhi is now more than 4.89 lakh. Of this, over 7,600 are deaths linked to the virus. The active caseload has crossed 40,000, this was below 10,000 in August.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 17, 2020 03:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).