Delhi records over 13K fresh Covid-19 cases, deaths fall below 300

Delhi on Sunday recorded 13,336 fresh cases of coronavirus disease, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,323,567 as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal extended the lockdown by another week.

Delhi on Sunday recorded 13,336 fresh cases of coronavirus disease, pushing the cumulative tally to 1,323,567 as chief minister Arvind Kejriwal extended the lockdown by another week. The national capital's daily death count also fell below 300 on Sunday after 273 fatalities were recorded, the health bulletin showed. A total of 19,344 people have succumbed to the viral disease so far, the bulletin stated.

Policemen stand in front of Jama Masjid on the last Friday of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, during a lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in the old quarters of Delhi, India, May 7, 2021. (Reuters)

The positivity rate - the proportion of samples that turn positive among all tests conducted - also dipped to 21.67 per cent on Sunday, a sharp decline from 35 per cent recorded last month, indicating reduced spread of the disease among people in Delhi. The national capital's positivity rate rose to its highest at over 35% two weeks back on April 26 but has gradually come down afterward.

Authorities on Sunday carried out 61,552 tests, out of which 49,787 were RT-PCR and 11,765 were rapid antigen tests.

On Sunday, Delhi's active cases dipped slightly to 86,232 from 87,907 recorded a day earlier. Among the infected, 52,263 people are recovering from the disease in home isolation.

The containment zones in Delhi increased to 53,127 on Sunday from 51,338 recorded on Saturday.

India’s capital extended its lockdown for another week and adopted stricter restrictions to control a new wave of Covid-19 infections as the country battles the world’s fastest-growing outbreak of the virus.

The lockdown, which had been set to end Monday after being extended several times, will now run through the early morning of May 17, CM Kejriwal said in an online briefing.

Dining-in at restaurants will remain prohibited, shopping malls will continue to be shut and employees of businesses outside of essential services will be required to keep working from home. Metro service will be stopped as an additional measure.

“The stricter the lockdown, the faster we will be able to control” the virus, Kejriwal said.

India on Sunday found 403,736 new virus cases, reporting more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths for a second day.