Covid-19: 4.2k cases in Delhi, least in 24 days; positivity dips below 10%
The Covid-19 test positivity rate in Delhi on Thursday fell below the 10% mark for the first time in 23 days, state government data showed, as new infections fell 43%, in persistent signs that the city has seen the back of its fifth wave of infections.
Delhi on Thursday added 4,291 Covid-19 cases, the fewest in a day since 4,099 on January 3, and a sharp drop from 7,498 a day ago.
The city added an average of 7,859 cases each day over the past week, showed records from the state government.
While the drop in cases came on the back of a significant dip in testing (falling from 70,804 on Wednesday to 44,903 on Thursday), a smaller percentage of samples nonetheless returned positive results, the data showed.
Just over 9.5% of all collected samples returned positive samples on Thursday, as the seven-day average test positivity rate also dipped to 12.8%, the lowest in 20 days. The positivity rate was last lower on January 4, when this statistic read 8.37%.
The city also recorded 34 Covid-19 deaths on Thursday.
Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said the decline in Covid cases was a promising trend.
“The Covid situation is under control. Today (Thursday) Delhi recorded less than 5,000 cases and the positivity rate was also lower than 10%. Hospitalisations are also a lot lower now,” Jain said.
Only 2,028 (13.15%) of the 15,420 Covid-19 beds in Delhi’s hospitals are occupied as of Thursday, leaving 13,392 (86.85%) vacant.
The number of occupied beds fell from 2,137 on Wednesday.
The continued dip in cases came as the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday decided that there will no longer be a weekend curfew, shops can be open on all days, and restaurants, bars and cinema halls can reopen for customers at 50% of their capacity.
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