Delhi-NCR suffers from double whammy of COVID and flu, 80 per cent households hit by viral fever

Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, the Delhi-NCR region is also suffering from an alarming bout of viral fever, with eight out of 10 households showing symptoms in the last 30 days, according to a survey conducted by an online platform. 

The survey received over 11,000 responses from residents of Delhi, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, Noida and Faridabad. Sixty-three per cent of the respondents were men and 37 per cent were women.

According to the study by LocalCircles, 54 per cent of the respondents said they had at least two members in their family who had one or more symptoms of viral fever such as fever, runny nose, cough, headache, bodyache, among others, in the last 30 days.

Twenty-three per cent of the respondents said they had four or more members in their family who had these symptoms.

Compared to these figures, just 42 per cent of the households had one or more individuals who had symptoms of viral fever during the corresponding time last year. Coronavirus is likely to have led to the surge this year.

The online platform also reported that in most cases, people have been opting for home kits to test if they have Covid or viral fever.

Delhi has reported a surge in COVID-19 cases over the last two to three weeks.

Experts have said people not following Covid-appropriate behaviour and flouting the mask mandate is a major reason behind the rapid spread of the disease in the national capital.

On Thursday, the national capital recorded 1,964 fresh COVID-19 cases with a test positivity rate of 9.42 per cent, while eight more people died of the viral disease.

The capital had on Tuesday reported 917 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 19.20 per cent and three deaths due to the infection.

On Monday, the city had logged 1,227 cases with a positivity rate of 14.57 per cent, while eight people died due to the disease. Before this, the city logged more than 2,000 cases daily for 12 consecutive days.

Delhi on Sunday reported 2,162 cases with a positivity rate of 12.64 per cent and five fatalities. A day before, it logged nine deaths due to COVID-19 and 2,031 cases with a positivity rate of 12.34 per cent.

Last Friday, the city saw 10 deaths, the highest in six months, and 2,136 cases with a positivity rate of 15.02 per cent. The national capital recorded 12 deaths due to COVID-19 on February 13.