Delhi Records 417% Spike in Active Cases in April as 4th Wave Paints Grim Picture in Capital

In the fourth wave of coronavirus, national capital Delhi has reported 417.32 percent increase in the active Covid-19 cases between April 1 and 15, much higher than that reported in Maharashtra or Mumbai, according the government data. Delhi’s surge is higher even than the national active load. Between April 1 and 15, Mumbai reported a jump of 55.42 percent in active cases, while Maharashtra witnessed an increase of 69.16 percent. India has reported an increase of 152 percent in active cases during the same period, official data from the Health Ministry says.

Delhi recorded over 17,000 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday to become the worst-affected city in the country, leaving financial capital Mumbai far behind in the daily tally. Mumbai’s single day peak so far is 11,163, registered on April 4, according to officials figures. Amid the steep spike, Delhi government announced weekend lockdown, while night curfew has been in place for over a week now. On April 1, the number of active coronavirus cases in national capital was 10,498. As of Thursday, the city has 54,309 active cases, a jump by 417.32 percent or 43,811 cases.

In comparison, the active coronavirus cases in Mumbai on April 1 were 55,005. The number has now reached 85,494, an increase of 55.42 percent or 30,489 cases. Further, the active caseload in Maharashtra, the worst affected state in pandemic, was 6,20,060 on Thursday. It was 3,66,533 on April 1, an increase of 69.16 percent.

The unprecedented surge in cases, especially in the last few days, has also left doctors and medical experts baffled, with some conjecturing that the virus has mutated and assumed so many different strains, some of which are far more transmissible than others.

India’s active caseload was 5,84,055 on April 1 and increased to 14,71,877 as of Thursday, an increase of 8.87 lakh cases or 152.01 percent jump.

Further, on April 1, Delhi reported nine COVID-19 related deaths. However, on April 15, the city reported 112 such deaths, an increase by 1144.44 percent, according to official data. On Thursday, Delhi reported over 100 deaths on the second consecutive day. On Wednesday, the 104 people succumbed to the viral infection, first time in 2021 that Delhi’s death count crossed the grim 100-mark. On November 18, 2020, Delhi reported 131 deaths, the highest single-day toll till date.

In terms of daily cases reported, Delhi witnessed an increase of 498.53 percent — 2,790 cases reported on April 1 to 16,699 cases reported on April 15.In this period, Delhi reported a total of 1,21,707 COVID-19 cases and 625 deaths, more than the fatalities reported in Mumbai.

On the contrary, Mumbai has witnessed 4.96 percent drop in daily cases reported on April 1 and 15. The city had reported 8,646 infections on April 1, which dropped to 8,217 on April 15.

In terms of daily deaths reported, Mumbai has witnessed a 172.22 percent increase. On April 1 and April 15, the city reported 18 and 49 deaths, respectively.

Between April 1 and April 15, the financial capital of India reported 1,38,445 coronavirus cases and 503 deaths.

In March, Mumbai had reported 88,710 cases and 216 deaths, while Delhi registered 23,141 cases and 117 deaths.

Now, Mumbai has been witnessing a gradual dip in daily cases, days after it reached an all-time high of 11,163 on April 4. The government imposed section 144 in Mumbai for 15 days from Wednesday. The western state had earlier announced weekend lockdowns, followed by a curfew for 15 days starting from April 15.

Faced with worsening pandemic situation, the Delhi government on Thursday announced imposition of weekend curfews and slew of other restrictions. Delhi has been reporting more cases than Mumbai since April 11. While Mumbai reported 9,989 cases, Delhi’s case count was 10,774 on April 11.

On April 12, 13, 14 and 15, Delhi reported 11,491, 13,468, 17,282 and 16,699 cases, respectively. For Mumbai, the number was 6,905, 7,898, 9,925 and 8,217 for the respective dates. In the last few days, Delhi has surpassed Bengaluru, Chennai Pune and Lucknow in their highest daily surge.

Delhi’s positivity rate has mounted to 20.22 percent, the highest so far till date. The positivity rate on November 14 last year had stood at 15.33 per cent, according to official data.

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