Delhi's COVID-19 positivity rate shoots up to 32%, alarming situation for the state

Amid acute shortage of oxygen in Delhi hospitals, the Covid positivity rate in the national capital has shot up to 32.82 per cent (till April 20, night), making health management more challenging in the city.

As per the Delhi government's report on April 20, a total of 86,526 samples were tested (56,724 RT-PCR and 29,802 Rapid Antigen) in the last 24 hours, of which 28,395 tests were found Covid positive.

A total of 19,430 people were reported recovered from Covid infection till Tuesday night, while a total of 8,07,328 people were recovered so far in Delhi.

Tally of active cases in Delhi rose to 85,575 and with 277 deaths on Tuesday, the capital's death toll reached 12,638.

Dr. B.L. Sherwal, Medical Director of Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital (RGSS), said, "It means, every third person tested was Covid-19 positive. This is an alarming situation. This is the reason several hospitals in Delhi are overburdened with patients and short of oxygen."

"Being a doctor, I would appeal to people of Delhi to avoid meeting physically in groups and use maximum digital resources to remain in contact with family members and others. This can be expected from the people of Delhi. Maximum people of Delhi are capable to use digital resources. If a hospital has only 40 ICU beds, it cannot help 41st patient who needs a bed in the hospital. The consumption of oxygen has undergone a quantum increase with the admission of a large number of serious patients who require oxygen support," Dr, Sherwal added.

As per the last update from Delhi government on availability of oxygen, (till late night on April 20) 241 MT of oxygen was supplied to Delhi on Monday and 355.33 MT on Tuesday (upto 3 p.m.) and the total stock of oxygen in the city's hospitals up to 3 p.m. on Tuesday was 508 MT.


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