New Delhi: The national capital is witnessing a fresh spike in Covid cases, but experts have said there is little reason to worry, as most of the population has immunity either because of vaccinations or previous infections. However, they have said the increase in cases is due to human behaviour.
Delhi Monday reported 512 Covid cases, up 12 per cent from Sunday, the highest single-day number since 20 February this year. The total number of positive patients in Delhi is 1,518, the highest since 3 March this year.
The number of Covid cases has been rising after the mandatory mask mandate was lifted by Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party government on 2 April. People in the national capital won’t be fined for not wearing face masks, but they are still recommended in public places.
“The reason for an increase in cases is due to host behaviour. This includes increased mobility and reduced non-pharmaceutical measures to stop the spread of the disease,” Dr Swapnil Pareikh, an independent Mumbai-based epidemiologist, told ThePrint.
“In this case, restrictions on travel have been reduced, and mask mandates removed — both of which have a direct consequence on the spread of the disease,” he said.
Pareikh added that changes in the virus itself have consequences for the spread of the disease.
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Rise in cases across NCR
Meanwhile, in the adjoining state of Haryana, the number of Covid-19 cases increased from 54 in early April to about 200 daily cases through the weekend — with the highest number of cases being reported from Gurugram and Faridabad, adjacent to Delhi.
“The number of tests being conducted is also relatively low, which is why it is difficult to gauge whether this is a sustained increase. It will take another week for the trends to become clear,” said Pareikh said, adding that at present, the number of cases is too low to say if this is a new wave.
Noida and Ghaziabad, part of the National Capital Region (NCR) on the Uttar Pradesh side, are also witnessing an increase in the number of infections. From around 45 daily cases at the beginning of the month, the number of cases Monday was 135.
Dr Sanjay Rai, professor of community medicine at AIIMS, New Delhi, told ThePrint that such fluctuations in case numbers are expected, but not something to worry about since a huge part of the population now has immunity.
‘Nothing to worry about’
India Monday recorded a massive jump in the daily Covid count. As many as 2,183 new cases have been recorded over the past 24 hours, an 89.8 per cent jump from Sunday’s case count of 1,150.
At present, there is no definitive analysis of whether a new variant has entered or evolved in the Indian population and if that is causing a rise in Covid cases.
Dr Pareikh pointed out that the fluctuations at the local level in Covid case numbers are common.
Pointing to reports of a high number of children getting Covid, Pareikh said children are bound to get infected when they congregate indoors.
Dr Rai, meanwhile, said mask mandates alone do not play a role in the disease spread. “Delhi faced three waves — reporting thousands of cases every day — even with strict mask mandates. We will continue to see a rise and fall in the number of infections,” he said.
“If we start testing for common cold cases — which is also caused by a coronavirus — we’ll probably see thousands of cases as well. There is nothing to worry about. We are unlikely to see severe Covid waves now,” said Dr Rai.
(Edited by Manoj Ramachandran)
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