“We saw a rise last month due to the festive season and with people getting voluntarily tested since they had to travel," news agency PTI quoted eminent epidemiologist Dr Chandrakant Lahariya as saying.
"In my opinion, people were not getting tested earlier, but now, they have started getting tested seeing media reports about the increase in cases. This alteration will continue for fairly long and it also depends on the behaviour of people," he added.
The epidemiologist said that in a case testing is ramped up from 30,000 to 1,00,000, figures will go up. Due to this, he says, it is difficult to predict till when will the fluctuation continue.
"In Delhi, access to testing is higher, and therefore, people are getting tested. The cases are proportionate to testing figures," he added.
His opinions were echoed by Dr Vikas Maurya, the director and HOD of Pulmonology at Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.
“One day people are getting tested and on another day, they are reluctant. This is also causing the fluctuation. I think this will go on for another two-three weeks, and it might be indicative of the fact that we are in the endemic stage," said Maurya.
He said that the variant which is currently causing infections is Omicron and its sub-variants.
“During January, a lot of people were exposed. People have developed immunity through vaccination and previous exposure. The majority of the patients we are seeing are those who have not reported to have tested positive for coronavirus earlier," he said.
Maurya informed that almost 70 to 80% of those who are going to them through OPDs and through hospital admissions are those who have not had a previous history of infection.
"People who are admitted to hospitals are those who are elderly and have co-morbidities. They did not have a good immune response after getting vaccinated, which could explain them getting infected. Among the children, the infections are mild," he said.
This comes as the national capital reported 970 Covid-19 cases and one death due to the disease on Wednesday while the positivity rate was at 3.34%. The day before, Delhi detected 1,118 coronavirus cases and one fatality while the positivity rate was at 4.38%.
On Monday, the city logged 799 cases of the disease and three deaths – the highest in a day in over two months – while the positivity rate was at 4.94%.
Delhi had logged 1,422 Covid cases and zero death due to the viral disease on Sunday, while the positivity was at 5.34%. The city saw 1,407 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 4.72% and two deaths on Saturday.
With inputs from agencies.
