We have been monitoring the situation continuously and there is no need to panic. We will take whatever steps are needed, he said
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said the city has seen a jump in the number of new COVID-19 cases in the last few days and it can be called a "third wave".
ADVERTISEMENT
Kejriwal said people do not need to panic and the government was monitoring the situation regularly.
"Delhi has witnessed a jump in the number of COVID-19 cases. I think we can call it a third wave," he told reporters.
"We have been monitoring the situation continuously and there is no need to panic. We will take whatever steps are needed," the chief minister said.
The government's priority is to give best treatment and healthcare facilities to COVID-19 patients in Delhi and to keep the death rate as low as possible, he said.
The chief minister said there was no shortage of beds for coronavirus patients in the city.
"However, there is scarcity of ICU beds in some big, private hospitals. But we are trying to set things right," he said.
"The Delhi government had increased their numbers (ICU beds in private hospitals) but unfortunately, the Delhi High Court stayed our decision. We are moving the Supreme Court today to urge it to vacate the stay," Kejriwal said.
Delhi recorded over 6,700 fresh COVID-19 cases for the first time on Tuesday, taking the infection tally in the city to over 4 lakh, even as the positivity rate stood at 11.29 per cent amid festive season and rising pollution in the city. The previous highest single-day spike till date here - 5,891 cases - was recorded on Friday.
The 6,725 fresh cases came out of the 59,540 tests conducted the previous day.
Forty-eight new fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll in the national capital to 6,652, according to the bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.
Keep scrolling to read more news
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever