Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that experts believe the Capital is hit by the second wave of the coronavirus, which is at its peak, and its intensity will decline in the coming days, News18 reported. This is the first time any state has claimed to have entered a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

“On September 16, Delhi recorded approximately 4,500 cases,” Kejriwal said at a programme in Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, according to NDTV. “After that, the cases started to decline and in the last 24 hours, 3,700 cases have come up in the national Capital. In the coming days, the numbers will decline further.”

Delhi had recorded 4,473 new cases on September 16 – the highest single-day rise in infections since the pandemic started.

Kejriwal said the government was able to control the spike in coronavirus cases with the help of the Centre, residents of the city and non-governmental organisations. “As a responsible government, we had increased testing from 20,000 to 60,000 daily,” he added.

The chief minister added that the high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the crisis also helped in controlling the pandemic.

Kejriwal had on September 5 attributed the rising number of coronavirus cases in the Capital to an increase in the number of tests and said that the situation was under control. He had said that the number of tests in Delhi has been doubled, which could be seen as the government launching a counter-attack against the coronavirus.

Delhi has so far reported 2,56,789 cases and the toll stood at 5,087, according to the Union health ministry data.