Delhi Chokes As Pollution Levels Spike, COVID-19 Cases Climb Over Worst AQI

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said firecrackers will be banned in the national capital as it recorded worst Air Quality Index ( AQI) on Tuesday for the season and will ramp up medical infrastructure.  He also expressed displeasure over the increasing number of coronavirus cases in Delhi and said that the city would soon become the 'Corona Capital of the country'. For the last three days, Delhi has been recording nearly 7,000 cases a day and it continues to remain as one of the worst-hit states due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As of now,  Delhi's caseload increased to 416,653. There are 38,729 active coronavirus cases in the national capital. A total of 371,155 have been recovered and the death toll now stands at  6,769. 

Among a few factors attributed to the rise in coronavirus cases in Delhi are social gatherings during festivals, declining air quality, rising incidences of respiratory disorders.

Dr VK Paul, a NITI Aayog member said that "The virus does not respect geographies. This is a big urban conglomerate so what is happening is in a
continuum. There is no need to differentiate. It is the same ecosystem, same environment and same behaviour. It shows that in this conglomerate, the situation is the same everywhere and the virus is still winning."

In Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad, the air quality deteriorated,  while in Gurugram on Wednesday it continued to remain poor. India's total cases increased to 84,11,724. In the last 24 hours, 670 new deaths reported and the death toll mounts to 1,24,985. The active cases are 5,20,773 and the total number of recoveries stand at 77,65,966 with 54,157 new discharges in the last 24 hours.