As Delhi Started Living Like The Pandemic Is Over, Daily COVID Cases Shoot Up To Nearly 300

COVID-19 is not over yet and there is still the likelihood of another wave. But a large section of society has already started behaving and living like the pandemic was never a thing.

Social distancing, wearing of face masks and use of hand sanitisers seems to have become a thing of the past.

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But as people started ignoring safety precautions, the number of COVID-19 cases in some parts of the country has shown clear signs of an uptick. Though there is no alarming spike yet, it is still a matter of concern.

The most visible uptick in new infections is in the national capital.

299 cases in Delhi in 24 hours

Delhi on Wednesday logged 299 new COVID-19 infections with a daily positivity rate of 2.49 per cent.

This is nearly 50 higher than the 202 cases that were recorded in the 24 hours before that.

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As per the Delhi government's COVID-19 health bulletin, 12,022 tests were conducted in the national capital. Of these, 7,411 were RT-PCR tests and 4,611 rapid antigen tests. Delhi has 814 active cases at present.

As many as 173 people recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours, taking to total count to 18,39,909.

In the last 24 hours, no one succumbed to the virus. The death toll is 26,158 and the case fatality rate is 1.4 per cent.

Delhi has recorded 18,66,881 positive cases of the infection. The cumulative positivity rate is 4.98 per cent.

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Noida schools forced to shut

It is not just Delhi that has seen an increase in new cases. In Noida, which is part of the National Capital Region (NCR) several schools were forced to shut after a number of students tested positive for COVID-19.

Till Tuesday, a total of 20 students were confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 in Noida.

One of the schools, which had reported infection to 13 children and three teachers on Monday, has switched to the online mode till next week. Details of other schools could not be confirmed even as it was learnt that the 10 children who have now tested positive for COVID-19 belong to different schools.

In a statement, the health department said 33 more people, including the 10 children, have tested positive for the infection since Tuesday morning and the total number of active cases in the district, adjoining Delhi, now stands at 90.

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All schools across Noida and Greater Noida have been advised to immediately inform the health department about any child with cough, cold, fever, diarrhoea or showing any symptom of COVID-19 for timely treatment.

Parents want mandatory masking in school

In a related development, a survey has found that at least 62 per cent of parents favour mandatory masking for children and staff members in schools while they are indoors.

The survey conducted by online platform LocalCircles had over 25,000 respondents residing across 381 districts of India. Forty-two per cent of the respondents were from tier-1 cities, 35 per cent from tier-2 and 23 per cent from tier-3 and 4 cities and rural districts.

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"At least 62 per cent of citizens said the mask mandate should be there. Only nine per cent said the mask mandate should be removed. Eight per cent respondents said that mask mandate should be removed and reinstated if the national TPR rises above one per cent," the survey report said.

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