Amid a scare about the spread of the Omicron variant, Delhi recorded 331 fresh coronavirus cases on Monday, the highest single-day rise since June 9, and one death in the past 24 hours, while the positivity rate mounted to 0.68 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
With a fresh fatality being reported, the number of coronavirus deaths in the national capital in the month of December has risen to eight, the highest in the last four months.
The Delhi government on Sunday had decided to re-impose night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am from Monday in view of surge in daily cases and significant rise in positivity rate.
According to a graded response action plan, a 'yellow' alert will come into force, bringing a set of restrictions.
On Sunday, Delhi recorded 290 cases with a positivity rate of 0.55 per cent and one fatality, according to official figures.
On Saturday and Friday, the daily case counts had stood at 249 and 180, respectively.
On Monday, it jumped to 331 cases with a positivity rate of 0.68 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin.
This rise is the highest since June 9 when 337 cases were logged with a positivity rate of 0.46 per cent, while 36 deaths were also recorded on that day. On June 4, the positivity rate had stood at 0.68 per cent.
The number of cumulative cases on Monday stood at 14,43,683. Over 14.17 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.
The spike in fresh cases in the last few days is being recorded amid a jump in cases of new Omicron variant of the coronavirus in New Delhi.
India saw the highest single-day rise of Omicron infections with 156 fresh cases, taking the total tally of such cases to 578, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Monday.
These 578 cases have been detected across 19 states and union territories with Delhi recording the maximum number of 142 cases, followed by Maharashtra at 141, Kerala 57, Gujarat 49, Rajasthan 43 and Telangana 41.
Seven COVID-19 deaths were reported in the national capital in November this year, according to official data.
Delhi had recorded four COVID deaths in October and five in September.
The death toll due to the coronavirus infection in Delhi on Monday rose to 25,106, according to the latest health bulletin.
A total of 48,589 tests -- 46,549 RT-PCR tests and 2,040 rapid antigen tests -- were conducted a day ago, it said.
The latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department, however, did not specify the variants detected as far as the quantum of cases reported are concerned, neither did it mention whether the number of people testing positive included those who come from abroad as well.
Genome sequencing takes 7-10 days to process a sample, officials had earlier said.
While the number of COVID cases has registered a rise in the last few days, in markets and other public places, mask and COVID norms-related violations were being reported.
Amid a jump in cases of the latest variant in Delhi, doctors had last week cautioned that people should avoid all gatherings and follow COVID-appropriate behaviours, else the pandemic situation may worsen given the highly transmissible nature of this variant of coronavirus.
Anticipating a surge in COVID cases driven by the Omicron variant, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal last week had said his government has made preparations to handle one lakh patients and conduct three lakh tests daily and ensure availability of enough manpower, medicines and oxygen.
The number of active cases mounted to 1,289 on Monday, from 1,103 on Sunday, according to the bulletin.
The number of people under home isolation stood at 692 on Monday while it was 583 a day before, and the number of containment zones in the city stood at 310, a significant jump from 279 on Sunday, the bulletin said.
