Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday requested the Centre to suspend flights to and from Singapore with immediate effect in the wake of a new strain detected in that country which is suspected to affect more children. He also said this new strain could mark the advent of the third wave of Covid-19 in the country, besides urging the Centre to prioritise identifying Covid vaccines for children.
“The new form of Corona that came to Singapore is being said to be extremely dangerous for children, in India it may come as a third wave. My appeal to the central government: 1. Air services with Singapore to be cancelled with immediate effect 2. Priority on vaccine options should be worked out for children too,” he said in a tweet.
The Delhi Chief Minister’s tweet came amid concerns over a third wave, which many experts said is likely to target children. The first wave has affected the elderly the most, and younger people have been infected in the second wave, the experts reasoned.
Meanwhile, according to officials, the Covid-19 positivity rate in the capital has fallen to 6.89%. On Monday, the positivity rate was 8.42%. This, even as the number of tests in the city increased from 53,756 on Monday to 65,004 on Tuesday.
Deaths too reduced to 265 from 340 on Monday. In 24 hours, there were 4,482 fresh cases, marginally lower than the 4,524 reported on Monday. Out of the 24,305 beds reserved for Covid patients across the city, currently 9,906 are vacant.