Capital’s fresh Covid-19 case count falls to 865

As a consequence of the fall in cases, the test positivity rate in the Capital fell from 5.87% on Wednesday to 4.45% on Thursday. This number, which provides a barometer of the extent of Covid-19 spread in a region, fell below 5% for the first time since 4.35% on June 12.

Delhi added 865 cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, state government data showed, even amid an uptick in testing, in early signs that the spike in infections may be flattening out.

No deaths were reported on Thursday. Delhi currently has 3,914 active infections, state government data showed. (Parveen Kumar/HT PHOTO)

The Capital logged 1,109 fresh cases on Wednesday on the back of 18,886 tests. Authorities in Delhi conducted 19,435 tests on Thursday.

As a consequence of the fall in cases, the test positivity rate in the Capital fell from 5.87% on Wednesday to 4.45% on Thursday. This number, which provides a barometer of the extent of Covid-19 spread in a region, fell below 5% for the first time since 4.35% on June 12.

To be sure, the state government did not release a health bulletin on June 6 (Sunday).

No deaths were reported on Thursday. Delhi currently has 3,914 active infections, state government data showed.

Senior officials of the Delhi government’s health department said that though a drop in cases is a promising sign, they continue to “wait and watch” the situation, since the first cases of BA.5 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have now been detected in the city.

“We are in touch with the health experts and scientists at government labs to get a better sense of how this tends to behave. The first impressions are that it is not severe and does not cause many hospitalisations and deaths,” the official said.

Doctors from major government hospitals in the city also confirmed that there was no cause to worry with the new sub-variant.

“Admissions that we are currently seeing are showing mild to moderate symptoms. Even the patient who eventually tested positive for the new BA.5 sub-lineage, got recovered and was discharged. There is no cause for panic,” said Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director, Lok Nayak Hospital, the city’s largest Covid-19 hospital.

Thursday’s numbers also showed that hospital beds in the city were largely vacant. Over 97% beds, of 9,490 reserved across facilities in the city were vacant as of Thursday, with just over 2% occupied.