As COVID-19 cases in the country show a tremendous rise in the last few weeks, experts on Monday said the number of cases will see an increase in the next couple of months due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, with the peak likely to be attained in February.
Alarming rise in cases in Delhi
National Capital Delhi, on Sunday, registered 290 new COVID cases with a positivity rate of 0.55 percent, while the number of fresh cases and the positivity rate rose to 331 and 0.68 percent respectively on Monday.
Delhi registered 39 new cases of infection with a positivity rate of 0.07 percent on December 1. The next day, the positivity rate had dropped to 0.06 percent, while the number of new cases was 41.
Between December 9 and December 15, Delhi registered 48 daily cases on an average, which rose to 95 between December 16 and December 22. According to official data, it was a rise of 49.47 percent on a weekly basis.
Epidemiologist Giridhar R Babu’s on the rise in cases
Epidemiologist Giridhar R Babu said, “It is very unlikely that the number of cases has risen due to the festive season because in that case, the impact would have been seen 14 days after Diwali in November and the number of cases would have risen by November-end. The number is rising due to the Omicron variant, which is highly transmissible. The cases will see a rapid ascent and a rapid descent and the peak is likely to come between mid-January and mid-February.”
The head of the community medicine department at the Safdarjung hospital, Dr Jugal Kishore said the number of coronavirus cases and the positivity rate are likely to increase, but will not translate into mortality.
