4k cases: Daily cases down for 3rd straight day, positivity falls to 8.6%

The city added an average of 6,901 infections each day over the past seven days, the lowest this statistic has been since January 7, when it recorded an average of 8,370 cases.

Daily Covid-19 cases in the Capital continued to decline on Friday, with the city adding 4,044 infections, the fewest in 26 days, showed state data.

A deserted view of Delhi's Lajpat Nagar market (ANI) 

The declining case graph was accompanied by a continued dip in the city’s test positivity rate. Of the 47,042 tests on Friday, 8.6% returned positive results, down from 9.56% a day ago.

The city last added fewer cases on January 3, when it recorded 3,194 infections.

Delhi added 4,291 Covid-19 cases on Thursday and 7,498 the day before that.

The Capital added an average of 6,901 infections each day over the past seven days, the lowest this statistic has been since January 7, when it recorded an average of 8,370 cases.

The government’s daily health bulletin on Friday also added 25 deaths to the city’s Covid-19 toll, which went up to 25,769.

Most statistics surrounding the city’s pandemic graph – cases, the test positivity rate, hospital admissions – have dipped consistently over the past two weeks, in signs that Delhi has begun to leave behind its fifth wave of infections, which is being driven by the Omicron variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

While the surge has seen daily cases hit a record, 28,867 on January 13, it has largely been characterised by milder illnesses and far fewer hospitalisations and deaths.

Even at the peak of infections, Covid-19 bed occupancy did not cross the 20% mark in Delhi at any time during the current wave.

Occupancy also continued decline on Friday, falling below the 2,000 mark for the first time since January 10 this year. Of the 15,420 Covid-19 beds in Delhi, only 1,928 (12.50%) were occupied, down from 2,028 on Thursday and 2,137 on Wednesday.

Similarly, in Covid care centres, 136 (2.94%) beds of the available 4,626 were occupied, and in Covid health centres, only 15 (7.58%) of the 198 beds were occupied.

Keeping the low hospitalisations and falling daily tally in mind, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday eased some pandemic restrictions in the city. This included lifting the weekend curfew, allowing markets and malls to open without following the odd-even policy, and allowing cinema halls and restaurants to reopen with 50% capacity. Guests at weddings were capped at 200 and government offices were allowed to function at 50% capacity. Educational institutions, however, will remain closed, and the night curfew will continue.