Cases cross 5000-mark in highest spike this year; over 1 lakh tested, 76000 vaccinated

NEW DELHI:  The national capital recorded 5,100 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday from over 1 lakh tests. This is the highest single-day number of fresh cases since November 27 last year when the city reported 5,482 cases in a day.

Seventeen more fatalities due to the infection took the death toll to 11,113, according to the Delhi health department.

The case positivity rate stood  at 4.93 per cent amid a massive surge in cases in the last few weeks. Delhi conducted a total of 1,03,453 tests, including 69,667 RT-PCR and 33,786 rapid antigen tests, a day ago. 

The number of cumulative cases on Tuesday stood at 6,85,062, while over 6.56 lakh patients have recovered from the disease.  

The number of active cases rose to 17,332 on Tuesday from 14,589 a day before. The number of people under home isolation increased to 8,871 on Tuesday from 7,983 on Monday, while the number of containment zones mounted to 3,291 from 3,090 a day before. 

Meanwhile, over 76,000 beneficiaries received shots of the coronavirus vaccines in Delhi on Tuesday and only two of them reported adverse events so far, officials said.

The number of people who received the jab till 6 pm was 76,642, including 66,543 who received the first dose of the vaccine, according to official figures.

The first dose was given to 21,353 people aged 60 and above, and 44,076 in the age group of 45-59 years. A total of 10,099 beneficiaries received the second dose of the vaccine.

‘Not considering lockdown’

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday said the AAP government is not considering imposing a lockdown and is exploring other alternatives it has. 

“We are not considering enforcing a lockdown. I believe we can check the spread through other alternatives,” he said.