Delhi records 928 Covid cases, lowest since June 13

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 928 fresh COVID-19 cases, lowest in over a week, with a positivity rate of 7.08 per cent and three more fatalities due to the viral disease in a span of 24 hours, according to data shared by the city health department on Wednesday.

It is for the first time after June 13 that the national capital has logged less than 1,000 cases in a day. Delhi had reported 614 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 7.06 per cent on June 13.

Wednesday's single day tally is 32.89 per cent lower than the previous day's, the data showed. The national capital had recorded 1,383 fresh coronavirus cases with a positivity rate of 7.22 per cent and one fatality on Tuesday.

A total of 13,099 tests to detect the infection were conducted on Tuesday, the department said.

With the fresh cases, Delhi's Covid tally has gone up to 19,25,460, while the death toll due to the disease has climbed to 26,242, it added.

Of the 9,491 beds in the city hospitals, only 263 are occupied, down from 264 a day ago, while the beds at the Covid care centres and the Covid health centres are lying vacant, the department said. The number of active COVID-19 cases on Wednesday declined to 5,054 from 5,595 the previous day, according to the data.

As many as 3,892 patients are under home isolation, down from 3,964 on Tuesday, while there are 291 Covid containment zones in the capital, up from 272 the previous day.

On Monday, Delhi had logged 1,060 new Covid cases and six deaths, the highest in over four months, while the positivity rate had risen to 10.09 per cent. This was the highest case positivity rate recorded in the national capital since January 24, when 11.8 per cent of the people tested had turned out to be positive.

Also, the single-day death toll of six was the highest since February 13, when 12 people had succumbed to the viral infection.

On Sunday, the city had logged 1,530 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 8.41 per cent and three deaths. The day before, it had reported 1,534 cases with a positivity rate of 7.71 per cent and three deaths.

The city had recorded 1,797 fresh coronavirus cases, the highest in over four months, and one fatality on Friday, while the positivity rate was 8.18 per cent. Friday’s figures were the highest since February 4, when the national capital had logged 2,272 cases and 20 deaths with a positivity rate of 3.85 per cent.

Delhi had recorded 1,323 new Covid cases and two deaths on Thursday, while the positivity rate was 6.69 per cent.

Despite the rise in the positivity rate, the city government has not implemented the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) devised by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) since hospital admissions are low.

The GRAP came into force in August last year, stipulating measures to be taken by the government in accordance with the positivity rate and bed occupancy for the locking and unlocking of various activities.

Experts have said people lowering their guard and travelling during the vacation season are the main reasons behind the latest upward trend in the number of coronavirus cases in Delhi.

The number of daily COVID-19 cases in Delhi had touched the record high of 28,867 on January 13 during the third wave of the pandemic. The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave of the pandemic.