In an exclusive interview with Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, Delhi AIIMS director Randeep Guleria described the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi as the second wave of the pandemic. The number of new cases has crossed 2500 per day in Delhi. In June, the new cases per day were at a peak, and the number substantially decreased in July. There was a time when the number went below 1000 per day.
Festival season may cause a surge in Covid-19 cases
Dr Guleria said that when the pandemic arrived in India, people took it seriously. However, with time, they started to take it lightly and ignored precautions such as washing hands with soap frequently or covering the face. He further added that the festival season is coming and people will go out for shopping. The cases may increase, and it will be difficult to maintain social distancing.
Tips provided by AIIMS director
Dr Guleria stated that the following rules and guidelines should be followed, as per the Jagran report.
- Follow the regulations while going out for work. Plan robustly to curb the spread of the infection as everything is opening.
- The government has to increase the number of testing further.
- The rules to declare a location “containment zone” should be strict and the government should ensure all regulations are followed.
- Following social distancing norms is a must.
The Delhi government claimed that people in Delhi are developing immunity but experts warned the antibodies may fade away. Dr Guleria had warned before in interviews with various news agencies that the cases will increase if the regulations are not followed properly.
In the first week of August, 7,125 new cases were reported that increased to 10,808 in the last week. Over the last five days, Delhi has registered 10,157 new cases. Nationally, according to Ministry of Family and Welfare, India is closing down to three million cases in total, with 8,15,538 active cases. 67,376 people have lost their lives due to Covid-19.