Breather for Delhi as COVID positivity rate slumps below one per cent

NEW DELHI: The declining trend in the Covid situation in the national capital continued on Monday with 648 fresh cases, the lowest in two and a half months, being reported.

The deaths toll stood at 86 and the positivity rate fell below one per cent, for the first time since March 19.

On Sunday, Delhi recorded 946 new cases and 78 deaths and the positivity rate was 1.25 per cent, according to a health department bulletin.  

Delhi’s tally of cases now stands at 14,26,240 with 24,237 deaths, the bulletin released on Monday said.

As the second wave of the Covid pandemic spread across the country, cases and the number of deaths started shooting up in Delhi in the first week of April.

The situation deteriorated in the second week. Delhi had reported the highest single-day fatalities on May 3 at 448. However, the number of cases and deaths have shown a declining trend over the last several days.

Monday was the fourth consecutive day when the daily cases count stood below the 1500-mark. There are 11,040 active cases in the national capital.

As many as 4,784 people are undergoing treatment at hospitals and Covid care centres, and 5,374 are in home isolation, said Monday’s health bulletin.

The bulletin said 1,622 more patients recovered from Covid on the previous day, taking the total number of recoveries to over 13.89 lakh.

Nearly 9,758 people were vaccinated in Delhi in a day. So far, 53.53 lakh people have been inoculated, including over 12 lakh who have received both doses of the vaccine, it said.

On March 23, the daily number of Covid cases breached the 1000-mark after a long gap. Thereafter, the Covid number including positivity rate began to rise gradually and the city witnessed a spurt in cases in the second week of April. 

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal imposed a lockdown on April 19 to break the chain of infection and to curtail the Covid spread.

On April 30, 27, 047 new cases were registered which was a record as it was the highest daily tally since the pandemic broke out in March last year. The positivity rate (36.24% per cent) was highest on April 22.