Covid-19 cases on the rise, but rate of infection has slowed down in Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. File pic.

The rate at which Covid-19 infection was spreading in Delhi has slowed down in the past few days, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday.

"Covid-19 cases are on rise in Delhi as well as the rest of the country but it has been observed that the rate at which infection was spreading earlier has slowed down which is a good news," Kejriwal said in a virtual conference this noon.

"I hope that this trend will continue and soon Covid-19 positivity rate will fall further," he added.

On January 7, Delhi logged in total 17,335 positive cases with the positivity rate standing at 17.73 per cent which increased to 19.60 per cent on January 8 with 20,181 cases. The national capital recorded 22,751 positive cases with a 23.53 per cent positivity rate. Monday, the total number of positive cases stood at 19,166 with a positivity rate of 25 per cent.

Meanwhile, to curb the infection, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has directed all the private offices, barring those under exempted categories in the national capital, to follow work from home.

"All private offices, except those which are falling under the 'Exempted Category' as prescribed in DDMA's GRAP order dated 08.08.21. The practice of work from home shall be followed," the order read.

The exempted categories include healthcare workers, those involved in essential services, media persons, judges and judicial officers, staff in the offices of diplomats of various countries.

After chairing the DDMA meeting on Monday, Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal announced that restaurants in the national capital have been closed for dine-in options amid a surge in the Covid-19 cases and only takeaways will be allowed.

Delhi reported a 25 per cent surge in Covid-19 cases after recording 19,166 fresh cases. With this, the infection tally has climbed to 15,68,896.

Meanwhile, the city has recorded 17 covid deaths on the second consecutive day, pushing the death toll to 25,177.

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