Delhi records 165 new Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths; positivity rate at 0.22%

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court sent a notice to the Centre and Delhi government over heavy crowds flooding city markets despite the ongoing pandemic.

Delhi registered 165 new cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 14 deaths due to the viral disease in the last 24 hours, a health department bulletin said on Friday. With this, Delhi's cumulative Covid-19 cases have risen to 1,432,033 including a death toll of 24,900, the bulletin showed.

A beneficiary receiving his Covid-19 vaccine shot at a vaccination centre in Delhi (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

With 76,480 tests conducted in this period, the Capital registered a test positivity rate of 0.22%. Delhi's new Covid-19 cases, fatalities and positivity rate saw a miniscule rise from the previous 24-hour period, when these stood at 158, 10 and 0.20% respectively. A total of 20,626,314 tests have been conducted in the city till now, as per the health bulletin.

Friday's data also showed 260 fresh recoveries or discharges -- as against 343 previously -- taking cumulative recovered cases to 1,404,688 which comprise 98.09% of Delhi's total Covid-19 caseload. Active cases, meanwhile, slumped further to 2445, a decline of 109 infections, and constitute 0.17% of the city's cumulative positive cases.

Additionally, the number of beneficiaries in Delhi who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 rose to 6,346,561 as 90,217 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours, the bulletin showed. The number of beneficiaries vaccinated with their first dose rose by 60,395 to 4,809,551 while the corresponding figures for those who received their second dose stood at 29,882 and 1,537,010 respectively.

On May 14, Delhi began the third stage of unlock from its Covid-19 induced lockdown, which came into effect on April 19 and remained in force till May 30. The first stage of unlock began on May 31, while the second stage commenced on May 7.

However, with heavy crowds flooding Capital's markets, the Delhi High Court on Friday observed that such breaches would only "hasten the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic." The high court also issued a notice to the Centre and Delhi government, asking them to file a status report.