Battling the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic, 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.
On Wednesday, Bengaluru recorded 8,155 cases, Chennai 2,564, their highest daily surge. Pune's highest single-day since the pandemic began was 12,494 cases, recorded on April 4. Delhi recorded 17,282 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest single-day surge in the national capital since the onset of the pandemic, while over 100 fatalities were reported, according to data shared by the health department.
Thus, Delhi has eclipsed Mumbai in the daily infection tally by a huge margin. 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.
"It is an absolute rampage in the city, young and old, vaccinated or not vaccinated, the virus is just hitting everyone. Delhi's situation is grim," said Suranjit Chatterjee, a senior consultant at Apollo Hospitals.
According to the Wednesday bulletin, 104 new fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll to 11,540. These new positive cases came out of record 1.08 lakh tests conducted on Tuesday, the bulletin said, adding, the positivity rate mounted to 15.92 per cent, also the highest so far. The highest single-day spike in Delhi till the third wave of the pandemic -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11 in 2020, while on November 18, the city had recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count till date.
The positivity rate on November 14 last year had stood at 15.33 per cent, according to official data. Delhi had recorded 10,774 cases on April 11, overtaking the highest daily surge here till the third wave, registered on November 11 -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11, while on November 18, the city had recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count till date. The cases in Delhi have since April 11 been on an upward spiral, 13,468 cases on Tuesday, and eventually 17,282 cases on Wednesday.
Mumbai in April till Wednesday has recorded 1,30,228 cases and 464 deaths. In March, 88,710 cases in total and 216 fatalities have been recorded in that month in the financial capital of the country, according to official data. In March, Delhi registered 23,141 cases in total and 117 deaths, according to official figures. -- PTI