Delhi records 316 new COVID cases, 41 fatalities; marked decline in funerals in last one week

NEW DELHI:  The national capital recorded 316 fresh Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.44 per cent, and 41 fatalities, according to the health bulletin released on Tuesday. The number of new coronavirus cases and the positivity rate saw a slight increase from Monday’s figures.

After the second wave of coronavirus weakened, the Delhi government started the unlock process, in which markets were allowed to open from Monday on an odd-even basis. 

Delhi had reported 231 instances of the COVID-19 infection, the lowest since March 2, with the positivity rate dipping to 0.36 per cent, according to the health bulletin released on Monday. The daily fatality count stood at 36 on Monday.

Forty-one people succumbed to the disease in a day, pushing the death toll here to 24,668, the latest bulletin said. The case fatality rate is 1.73 per cent, according to the bulletin.

On Sunday, Delhi had recorded 34 fatalities, the lowest in around two months, and 381 cases with a positivity of 0.5 per cent.

On Saturday, the city had reported 60 fatalities and 414 new cases of Covid-19 with a positivity rate of 0.53 per cent. The day before, it had recorded 50 deaths and 523 new cases with a positivity rate of 0.68 per cent.

A total of 71,879 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours. As many as 521 people recovered, were discharged or migrated out during the last 24 hours. Out of 24,208 beds in hospitals, 21,595 are vacant.

The number of active novel coronavirus cases stands at 4,962, of which 1,795 are in home isolation, the bulletin said. The cumulative cases stand at 14,29,791, and over 14 lakh people in the city have recovered from the infection till now, it said.

The city saw 66,175 people getting vaccinated in the last 24 hours, including 32,408 who were administered the second dose.

A total of 57,32,699 people in Delhi have been inoculated till now, including 13,18,084 who have been administered both the doses.

Mayor Nirmal Jain on Tuesday claimed there has been a significant decline in the number of funerals of COVID-19 patients and those suspected to have died of the viral disease in east Delhi over the last week.

Delhi is reeling from a second wave of the pandemic that claimed many lives, leaving crematoriums overwhelmed.

Images of a mass funeral at Seemapuri crematorium in east Delhi, with pyres lit not far from each other due to a space crunch, had gone viral in April, when the pandemic was at its peak.

However, over the last several days, the number of cases has shown a downward trend and the positivity rate, too, has been shrinking.

The number of deaths is also falling in the national capital.

Jain said the number of funerals of COVID-19 patients and those suspected to have died of the disease has come down significantly over the last week.

"On June 6, not a single Covid funeral took place, of confirmed or suspect cases. On June 5, only one funeral of a suspected Covid patient was conducted. On June 3 and 4, two and four Covid funerals took place at our crematoriums. The situation is much better now," he said.

At 9,300, May saw the highest number of funerals conducted in a month as per Covid protocols in Delhi since the coronavirus pandemic began, North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash had said last week.

April saw the second-highest number of COVID-19 funerals at 9,150, according to data of Delhi's three civic bodies, he had said.

Delhi's three municipal corporations are North, South and East Delhi municipal corporations.

Nigambodh Ghat, Punjabi Bagh crematorium and Seemapuri crematorium, among others, are the major cremation sites in the city.

(With PTI Inputs)