Daily cases fall to 3,674 as test positivity rate dips below 6.5%

This is the Capital's lowest daily infection tally since January 2.

The Capital saw its lowest daily infection tally since January 2 on Sunday, as the Covid-19 test positivity rate in the city also continued to wind downwards to levels last seen in the early days of the month, according to numbers from the state government’s daily health bulletin.

Delhi added 3,674 cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the fewest in a day since it recorded 3,194 infections on January 2. (HT File Photo/ Representational image)

Delhi added 3,674 cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the fewest in a day since it recorded 3,194 infections on January 2, when the Omicron surge of the pandemic began to expand its footprint in the Capital.

Testing dipped only marginally on the day, with Delhi collecting nearly 58,000 samples on Sunday (as against 60,532 a day ago). The test positivity rate, however, continued to dip, falling to its lowest in 29 days.

Of the samples collected on Sunday, 6.3% returned positive results, the fewest since 4.6% on January 2.

The statistic is a vital metric to understand the spread of an infection in a region. Experts, including the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend a positivity rate below 5% for two weeks, before an outbreak can be considered under control.

In Delhi, the peak of recorded cases came on January 12 (28,867) , and that of the test positivity on January 14 (30.64%).

Delhi also recorded 30 more fatalities of the infection on Sunday, taking the Covid-19 toll in the city to 25,827.

The city’s fifth wave has been marked by a significantly smaller proportion of hospitalisations and deaths compared to its previous waves – a pattern consistent with global surges caused by the Omicron variant of the Sars-Cov-2 virus.

The Omicron variant itself has been seen to cause milder symptoms among people it infects, and consequently fewer hospital admissions and deaths.

An audit report of Covid deaths prepared by the Delhi government found more signs that this wave of infections has been significantly less damaging for the city.

Among the 438 people who died between January 13 and 25, only 94 had Covid-19 as primary cause of death.

The number of people admitted to hospitals in Delhi dropped on Sunday as well, with 1,567 occupying hospital beds in the city, down from 1,771 a day ago, and leaving nearly 90% (13,861) vacant. Even at its peak, hospitalisations in the city did not cross the 20% mark during the current surge of infections.

Another factor that appears to have played a role in keeping hospitalisation and deaths low in Delhi has been vaccinations, experts added, with all adults inoculated with at least one dose of vaccines, and over 82% completely vaccinated, according to data from the CoWin dashboard.

“Positivity rate is continuously going down in Delhi which is similar to Mumbai and Kolkata, where the R0 is already less than 1, which means transmission has nearly halted... Life should come to normal and all commercial activities should be restored as soon as possible including school and colleges,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) decided on Thursday 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, heeding to calls to at least roll back some curbs after the Covid-19 outbreak in the city appeared to be stable.