Delhi: Fewest Covid cases in a day since April 5, positivity rate falls to 5.78%
Delhi has now added an average of 6,390 cases every day over the past week, down from an average of 15,441 cases a day in the week before that. The city also registered 235 more deaths on Wednesday, the fewest since 161 fatalities on April 18.
The Covid-19 case trajectory in the city continued to dip on Wednesday, with the city reporting 3,846 new cases, the least since April 5, while the test positivity rate also fell to 5.78%, a 44-day low.
Delhi has now added an average of 6,390 cases every day over the past week, down from an average of 15,441 cases a day in the week before that.
The city also registered 235 more deaths on Wednesday, the fewest since 161 fatalities on April 18.
At the peak of the ongoing surge, Delhi reported over 28,300 new cases on April 20. Before this wave, the highest number of cases in a day was around 8,500 during the third wave of infections in November.
The virus has infected 1.4 million people in the city so far, claiming 22,346 lives.
With the number of cases going down, the seven-day average case fatality ratio (CFR) – proportion of people who die among those who test positive – has gone up to 4.03%.
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A higher seven-day average CFR was last seen in January when the number of new cases had dipped to three digits, with a positivity rate less than 1%. This was because deaths typically lag after fall in cases.
Experts consider the spread of the infection to be under control when the positivity rate remains below 5% for at least two weeks.
Delhi’s positivity rate remained below 1% for 82 days from December-end through the third week of March.
“The cases have been going down since April 24; it has gone down to 4,000 now after the lockdown. Our target is to have a positivity rate of 2%; the positivity rate was 1 to 2% when the cases had suddenly gone up. Experts believe in a target of 5%; anything over that is considered to be high,” said Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain in a press briefing on Wednesday.
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He also said the government was preparing for a third wave, which might affect children as well. “Delhi is also working on preparations for cases in adults as well as children. The wave this time was unprecedented; no agency had warned that there could be such a big wave. This time that we have been told [about a third national wave], we will be prepared,” said Jain.