‘Outsiders’ account for 33% of Delhi’s Covid cases, says Jain

New Delhi: Health minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday reiterated that about 33% of Covid cases being reported in Delhi of late come from outside. For the past 10 to 15 days, the health minister said, more than 100 patients from outside are visiting different hospitals in Delhi because of better healthcare services and plasma therapy facilities available here.

Asked about the increase in the number of patients in Covid hospitals, the health minister told reporters: “Around one third of people visiting Delhi’s hospitals are from outside the city. Around 10 to 15 days ago, everyday the number was decreasing by 100. Now, more than 100 patients are coming from outside, which has led to an increase in the number of cases.”

Jain said that the capital’s recovery rate is still above 90%. “On Tuesday, more than 100 cases reported were from outside Delhi, while around 200 patients belonged to the city. The number of patients belonging to Delhi is only around 2,100 to 2,200. Since Delhi has facilities for plasma therapy and the healthcare services are better here, people from outside are coming for treatment,” added Jain.

In the last 10 days, daily Covid-19 positive cases have been fluctuating and touched 1,404 on August 8, which is the highest in over past two weeks. On Wednesday, the capital reported 1,113 Covid positive cases. The number of active Covid-19 cases in Delhi has gone up to 10,946 from 10,596 on August 1. There were 10,868 active cases on August 11.

The number of patients admitted in Covid hospitals has also increased. From 2,979 on August 1, it increased to 3,212 on August 11 and further to 3,351 on August 12. A total of 139 persons were admitted to hospitals between Monday and Tuesday.

About the recently concluded sero survey, Jain said that the samples are being tested in labs. “The results of the sero-survey will be out within a week. The previous serological survey revealed that 45 to 46 lakh infected people had recovered,” said Jain.