Slump in positivity rate in last seven days in Delhi; steady rise in number of containment zones

NEW DELHI: The COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital has slumped in the last one week, dropping from 8.65 per cent on November 26 to 5 per cent on December 2, even as the count of containment zones has grown steadily in the same period, according to official data.

In this duration, nearly 100 containment zones have been added each day, rising to 5,772 on Wednesday.

Delhi recorded 3,944 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the tally to over 5.78 lakh, while 82 new fatalities pushed the toll to 9,342.

These fresh cases came out of a record 78,949 tests conducted on Tuesday, including 36,370 RT-PCR tests, while the positivity rate dropped to 5 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

This is the highest number of tests conducted in a day till date and also the first time when over 70,000 tests were done.

The positivity rate has been steadily dropping since November 26 till date, except on November 29 when it marginally rose to 7.64 per cent compared to 7.24 per cent on November 28, as per the official figures shared by the Delhi health department.

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The positivity rate was 8.65 per cent on November 26 when 5,475 fresh cases were recorded, and 8.51 per cent on November 27 when 5,482 cases were reported.

On November 30, the rate again dropped to 7.35 per cent; 6.85 per cent on December 1 and 5 per cent on December 2, as per the data.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday said the COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital is falling rapidly and it should drop to below 5 per cent level in the next few days.

However, the number of containment zones has steadily risen in the last one week, from 5,156 on November 26 to 5,772 on December 2.

The count of zones on intervening days were -- 5,229 (November 27), 5,331 (November 28), 5,441 (November 29), 5,552 (November 30) and 5,669 (December 1), according to official data.

When asked about the rise in count of containment zones, Jain had said, as per the government policy, any place where three or more cases are reported are converted into a containment zone.

"So, this is our effort to contain the spread of the virus and so the numbers are increasing, and thus not a matter of concern," he said, adding, that the rapidly falling positivity rate is a "satisfactory" trend.

The positivity rate was 15.26 per cent on November 7.

There has been a reduction of nearly 55 per cent since early November, Jain had said on Tuesday.

Eighty-two fatalities were recorded on Wednesday, pushing the toll in the national capital to 9,342.

The active cases tally on Wednesday had dropped to 30,302 from 31,769 on Tuesday.

The Wednesday health bulletin said that the total number of cases has climbed to 5,78,324, while the recovery rate stood at over 93 per cent.

The highest single-day spike till date -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11.