Delhi Sitting on Corona Bomb

Situation in Delhi is getting worse with every passing day. The daily positivity rate as on 13th June 2020 has increased to as high as 36.9% in Delhi. The two week average has increased to 26.1%. The overall positivity rate has increased to 13.76% against the national average of 5.7%. Doubling period has fallen to less than 12 days against 17 days of national average. Testing in Delhi is falling. It was testing around 8,000 people every day in the month of May but since 1st June it is testing around 5,000. Even the Dy. CM has accepted that half of the coronavirus patients are undetected because of low tests and lack of proper tracing. That means at present more than of half of the actual numbers of the total cases are either undetected or unreported.

Consistent daily positivity report above 10% is a clear indication of confirmed community transmission in that specific area. So without doubt Delhi is under clutch of community transmission but not the whole Delhi. Only specific areas are under the phase of community transmission and positivity rate may be higher than 50%. Reported fatality rate in Delhi is among the highest and more than the national average. As per municipal corporations’ reports, the actual fatality is perhaps double of the reported one.

What is strange is that the state government is sitting idle and waiting for the central government to announce the community transmission in Delhi. More interestingly ICMR comes with one and half months old survey claiming that there is no community transmission in India. Simply the state government is busy managing data not the coronavirus outbreak and central government is allowing this to happen.

Rajeev Upadhyay