Coronavirus / Covid-19 virus is spreading fast but less dangerous in current wave: Satyendar Jain

New Delhi: As novel coronavirus cases have been surging across the country, Delhi health minister Satyender Jain on Monday said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government will soon be launching micro containment zones in areas with 2-3 Covid-19 patients to contain the spread of the virus further.

The decision comes after Delhi recorded over 4,033 new cases on Sunday, while the positivity rate rose to 4.64 percent, according to the health department.

With the new infections, the number of cumulative cases rose to 6,76,414, while 21 more deaths took the toll to 11,081.

Delhi has been seeing a surge in cases over the past few days.

Jain also added that as per doctors, the COVID-19 virus spreads rapidly but is less severe in this wave. He also urged those who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma.

Jain had earlier said that according to the World Health Organisation, the situation is considered under control if the positivity rate remains below 5 per cent for several days.

Earlier also, Jain had said that lockdown is not a solution to deal with rising coronavirus infections.

"There is no possibility of lockdown. There has already been a lockdown and there was a logic behind it. At that time, no one knew how the virus spreads. It was then said that there is a 14-day cycle from being infected to ending the infection. Then the expert said that if all the activities are locked for 21 days, the virus will stop spreading. Even then the lockdown kept extending but despite this, the coronavirus spread did not stop. I think lockdown is not a solution," said Satyendar Jain.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said on Friday that Delhi is encountering the fourth wave of COVID-19 infection but the imposition of a lockdown is not being considered yet.

If there is a need for a lockdown in the future, a decision will be taken after due public consultation, he had said, adding the fourth wave is less serious than the previous ones as there are fewer deaths and hospitalisations this time.

He had also suggested that the Centre lift the age bar of 45 years for vaccination to pave the way for mass-level inoculation.

If the Centre allowed vaccination at non-healthcare facilities like schools, immunisation be undertaken on a war footing to check the spread of the virus, he had said.

Meanwhile, as many as 1,03,558 more people tested positive for Covid-19 across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally to 1,25,89,067, said the Union health ministry on Monday.

This is the first time that the country has crossed the one-lakh mark in new infections since the pandemic broke out. The previous high in daily infections stood at 97,894 on 16 September last year.