New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI) With Delhi recording 1,041 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the government is providing plasma for free for coronavirus patients and people do not need to buy or sell it.

The tally of COVID-19 in the city rose to 1,27,364 on Thursday, while the death toll mounted to 3,745, authorities said.

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"We are giving free plasma to people. We have more than 500 plasma samples as stock in ILBS Hospital. What is the need of selling and buying plasma if the government is providing plasma for free? People do not need to buy plasma because all plasma blood groups are available there," Kejriwal said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday said strict action will be taken if it is found that monetary transaction was done during the process of plasma donation for any COVID-19 patient.

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On Monday, the fresh cases count had dipped to 954, and it increased the next day to 1,349.

Twenty-six coronavirus-related fatalities have been recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the Delhi Health Department bulletin on Thursday.

From July 11 to 19, fresh cases were reported in the range of 1,000-2,000 daily. On July 19, 1,211 fresh cases were reported.

The number of active cases on Thursday stood at 14,554, a marginal decline from 14,594, the previous day.

On June 23, the national capital had reported the highest single-day spike of 3,947 new cases.

According to the Thursday bulletin, the death toll due to COVID-19 has risen to 3,745 and the total number of cases mounted to 1,27,364. A total of 1,09,065 patients have either recovered, migrated or have been discharged.

The national capital has conducted 8,89,597 tests till now. A total of 12,465 rapid antigen tests were conducted in the last 24 hours while 5,761 RT-PCR tests were conducted during the same duration, the bulletin said.

The number of containment zones stands at 704.

A meeting was held under the chairmanship of Union Home Secretary regarding creation of air bubbles for international travel, arrangements for incoming international passengers and for deployment of additional health personnel for triage in the arrival area and for health checkup in the departure area, the bulletin said.

In a related development, the case of a Delhi policeman having a relapse of the novel coronavirus has baffled experts and the doctors treating him and has raised the question whether a recovered patient can contract the infection again.

Experts suspect that the first time he got a positive result, it could have been a false positive and also opined that it could be a case of reinfection since he did not have antibodies.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)