New Delhi: The national capital has now seen its coronavirus peak and the new cases are now on a decline, said Prof Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS Delhi, on Monday (July 20, 2020).


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While briefing the press conference on the COVID-19 vaccine, Prof Guleria stated, "Delhi had its peak and now the cases are declining," adding that once the coronavirus vaccine is out, the priority will be given to high-risk groups and the health-care workers.


Prof Guleria informed that more than 1800 volunteers had registered on the AIIMS websites for COVID-19 vaccine human trials of which 1,125 volunteers will be studied in three phases.


In the first phase, 375 will be tested for safety and dose range adjustment, while the second phase will have over 700 volunteers in the age group 12 to 65 years, while the third phase will witness the largest group of volunteers and it will see how much immunity people have received eventually.


Prof Guleria further said, "There are viruses that stay longer during monsoons, but to comment on COVID-19's status would be difficult for now," adding that the coronavirus new cases in few Indian southern districts are on a decline now.


Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who had tested positive for COVID-19 on June 17 has recovered now and will resume work from today (July 19).



According to the Delhi government's latest health bulletin, the national capital reported 1,211 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, whereas, as many as 1,860 patients recovered from the virus.


The infection rate now stands below 6% while the recovery rate is around 83.99% and the death rate is at 2.95%. 


As per Sunday's bulletin, Delhi has a total of 1,22,793 confirmed cases, of which 1,03,134 patients have been cured. 


There are 16,031 active coronavirus cases now with over 685 live COVID-19 containment zones across Delhi. The death count stands at 3,628.