The number of hospitalisations in the capital has also remained over 200 for three days in a row. As many as 50 Covid-19 deaths were reported in July, another 50 in June and 35 in May. (Express/Amit Mehra)Cases of Covid-19 are on the rise in Delhi, with 1,263 fresh cases reported on Sunday. With 13,511 tests, the positivity rate stood at 9.35% on Sunday, according to the government’s daily health bulletin. This is the highest positivity rate recorded in the city in 41 days since it recorded 10.09% on June 20.
These are the only two instances in which the positivity rate climbed to such high levels since the waning of the third wave in January when over 28,000 cases were recorded at the peak. The average positivity rate over the last seven days stood at 7.59%, up from 4.90% the week before and 3.68% during the week before that.
The official figures are unlikely to capture all the cases in the capital as the number of tests has dropped after the third wave in January, with home-based kits becoming readily available. As per Friday’s bulletin, 16,924 tests were conducted. To compare, at the height of the third wave in the second week of January, Delhi had conducted over 91,800 tests a day on average, with the numbers even crossing one lakh on some days.
With several states reporting a similar surge, the Centre had asked states to increase awareness so that people who test positive at home also share the information with the government.
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Along with increasing incidence, the number of active cases or people with current infection is also on the rise, with over 4,000 active cases having been recorded in the city over the last two days. Over 4,000 active cases were last seen at the end of June last year when there was another surge in cases.
There have been three instances of a slight uptick in Covid-19 cases in Delhi since the big Omicron-driven wave in January this year – towards the end of April to early May, in mid-June, and now. In the two previous instances, the cases rose to 1,500 and 1,900 before dropping again. Experts believe these fluctuations will likely continue for some time before the disease settles into a seasonal pattern.
The number of hospitalisations in the capital has also remained over 200 for three days in a row. As many as 50 Covid-19 deaths were reported in July, another 50 in June and 35 in May.
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