As many as 1,118 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 1,36,716, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Saturday.
Also, 26 more deaths have been reported, taking the toll to 3,989. Of the total cases, 1,22,131 people have recovered and there are now 10,596 active cases.
A second serological survey, in which blood samples of random people from across the city will be taken to check how many have developed antibodies against COVID-19, began on Saturday. “The survey began in five districts on Saturday morning. It will start in the remaining six districts from Sunday,” a health department official said.
The result of a similar survey done from June 27-July 5, in which around 22,000 samples were taken, had shown that 23.4% of the population had developed antibodies.
The number of new cases has been dropping ever since it touched almost 4,000 — highest so far — on June 23. Daily new cases have been less than 1,500 for the past 16 consecutive days.
The active cases have also been decreasing; from 27,007 on July 1 to 10,596 on Saturday — a drop of 60.8%.
Out of the total 18,154 tests done in the past 24 hours, 71.6% were rapid antigen tests, which have shown low positivity in the city compared to RT-PCR tests.
The number of people admitted to COVID-19 hospitals has also been decreasing, from 5,892 on July 1 to 2,979 on Saturday.
In the same period, the number of patients in home isolation has decreased from 16,703 to 5,660.
The positivity rate, which is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus, has dropped from 12.2% to 6.1%.
The number of containment zones decreased to 496 on Saturday following a reassessment this week.