COVID cases up in Delhi due to increased testing: Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday said the COVID-19 situation is completely under control but stressed that there is no room for complacency and highlighted that the cases are rising due to increased testing.

He said that the government has taken several steps to reduce deaths due to coronavirus "I have taken stock of data, situation and preparedness. I want to assure you that the COVID-19 situation in Delhi is completely under control but there is no room for complacency. 2,914 new cases and 13 new deaths reported. Yesterday, the death rate was 0.4 per cent. In June, around 100 deaths were taking place every day," Kejriwal said in a press conference.

"As per data between August 15 and today, the fatality rate among COVID-19 patients is 1 per cent in Delhi against 1.7 per cent of the national fatality rate. The situation in Delhi is much better. We have taken several steps to reduce deaths due to coronavirus. Today cases are coming but only a few people are dying," he said.

"Our recovery rate is 87 per cent against 77 per cent on national level. COVID-cases are rising in Delhi because we have increased testing. Earlier we used to do around 20,000 tests per day but now we have increased it to 40,000. If testing is reduced, then cases will come down to around 1,500 cases. I don't want to fix numbers but your health," he said.

The chief minister said that there is no shortage of hospital beds in Delhi.

"There are total of 14,000 beds for treatment of coronavirus patients and only 5,000 are occupied. Around only 1,700 patients are from outside Delhi and the rest are from Delhi," he said.

Underling the fact that there can be no complacency, especially regarding wearing masks and following social distancing, he urged the people to follow all the COVID-19 safety norms.