Covid: At 917, Delhi sees fresh drop in daily tally, 3 deaths; positivity rate at 19.20%

The national capital has seen an uptick in the number of deaths in recent weeks with 81 people losing their lives to the virus in August so far, taking the overall count to 26,392.

Delhi on Tuesday reported 917 new Covid-19 cases and three related fatalities, pushing the total caseload to 19,86,739, according to the health department's latest bulletin.

The health department's bulletin showed that 4,775 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.(AFP)

The national capital has seen an uptick in the number of deaths in recent weeks with 81 people losing their lives to the virus in August so far, taking the overall count to 26,392.

With the latest figures, the daily positivity rate climbed to 19.20 per cent. It was 14.57 per cent on Monday.

As many as 1,566 patients recuperated from the virus in the last 24 hours. The cumulative recoveries in Delhi are now at 19,53,480. Active cases now stand at 6,867.

The health department's bulletin showed that 4,775 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, including 631 rapid antigen tests and 4144 RT-PCR/CBNAAT/True Nat tests.

On Monday, the authorities in Delhi had conducted 8,421 Covid tests.

Earlier in the day, Delhi’s lieutenant governor (L-G) VK Saxena appealed to the people to strictly adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour. "We are witnessing a rise in Covid-19 infections, consistently high positivity & cases of reinfection. It is essential that we realise that the pandemic is far from over. I appeal to all to strictly adhere to Covid appropriate behaviour. We cannot afford to let our guards down," Saxena wrote on Twitter.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia also held a meeting with senior officers of the health department to step up vaccination. He said 90 per cent of Covid-19 patients at city hospitals are doubly vaccinated, while only 10 per cent have taken the precautionary dose.

“Did a detailed review of the situation of corona in Delhi with the officials today. Currently, 90% of Delhi's new Covid hospitalisation cases have not been administered the third dose. This is clear proof that the third dose is helping a lot in the defence against Covid,” Sisodia tweeted in Hindi amid the latest jump in Covid cases in the national capital over the past few days.