Delhi logs 1,151 new COVID-19 cases, 15 more deaths; positivity rate 2.62%

Source: AP

Delhi reported 1,151 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more fatalities on Monday, while the positivity rate rose slightly to 2.62 percent, according to data shared by the health department. With this, the national capital’s case count increased to 18,45,084 and the death toll climbed to 25,998, it said.

Delhi on Sunday reported 1,410 fresh COVID-19 cases and 14 more deaths, while the positivity rate was at 2.45 percent. The number of COVID-19 tests conducted a day ago stood at 43,991, it said.

Delhi had on Saturday reported 1,604 cases with a positivity rate of 2.87 per cent, and 17 more deaths. The number of daily cases in Delhi has been on the decline after touching the record high of 28,867 on January 13.

The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 percent on January 14, the highest during the ongoing wave of the pandemic. It took just 10 days for daily cases to drop below the 10,000-mark. The national capital had on January 23 reported 9,197 new Covid cases with a positivity rate of 13.32 per cent and 34 deaths.

The surge in Covid cases in Delhi during the third wave of the pandemic was due to the Omicron variant of the virus which is highly transmissible. Several families in a large number of neighbourhoods had tested positive, but medical experts said since the infection had happened at the same time, the recovery too was quicker for the community as a whole.

Also, there has been less chance of more spread of the infection as people have been largely home isolated with a very little number of patients needing hospitalisation this time, they said. The DDMA had on Friday held a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation and decided to reopen higher education institutions and coaching centres along with schools for classes 9-12 from February 7 amid dipping Covid cases in the city.

The DDMA, however, decided that night curfew will continue in Delhi. Gyms have also been allowed to reopen with certain restrictions. There are 15,416 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 936 (6.07 per cent) of them were occupied, the bulletin said.

A total of 936 Covid patients were in hospitals, the Monday health department bulletin stated. Out of them, 328 were on oxygen support, including 84 on ventilator support. The number of active cases stands at 7,885, it said.

The number of people under home isolation stood at 5,715 on Monday, while it was 6,401 a day before. The number of containment zones in the city stood at 28,980, a fall from 30,546 the previous day, the bulletin said.