Delhi adds 7.5k cases as testing hits 12-day high, 10.6% positive

On January 25, the city logged 6028 fresh cases at a test positivity rate of 10.55%.

The Covid-19 test positivity rate in the Capital remained largely unchanged on Wednesday, even amid a sharp uptick in testing which pushed new cases up, showed data from the state government.

Shoppers in a market in national capital.

Delhi on Wednesday added 7,498 cases of Covid-19, which were 10.59% of the 70,804 tests that were conducted on the day, showed the state government’s daily health bulletin. Tests picked up significantly from Tuesday, when just over 57,000 samples were collected across the city.

In fact, Wednesday’s test count was the highest in 12 days for the Capital, showed state records. Delhi last conducted more tests on January 14, when it collected over 79,500 samples.

The city added 6,028 fresh cases on Tuesday at a test positivity rate of 10.55%.

Wednesday’s bulletin added 29 deaths to the city’s pandemic toll, taking the overall number of fatalities to 25,710.

“Let us not focus on absolute numbers -- this minor increase is on account of increased testing. The important thing is that the positivity rate is only around 10% and hospitalisations are also steadily declining,” said a senior official of the Delhi health department.

Government data on Wednesday showed that of the 15,420 Covid-19 beds in the city, 13,283 (86.14%) were vacant, leaving the city’s health care infrastructure with ample breathing room, and highlighting the far more muted severity of the Omicron variant that has caused this surge.

The active case count in the city also dropped below the 40,000 mark on Wednesday, with 38,315 patients recovering from Covid-19 in Delhi. This is a significant downturn since they peaked at 94,610 exactly two weeks ago.