Under 1,000 in hospital as daily tally falls again

The national capital on Sunday added 1,410 Covid-19 cases to its tally, the lowest single-day jump since December 30, when Delhi added 1,313 infections, showed records from the state government.

Fewer than 1,000 patients were admitted with Covid-19 in Delhi’s hospitals, showed state government data, as the infection graph in the city continued to gradually flatten and return to levels last seen when the fifth wave of infections had started spreading its footprint in Delhi.

A worker sanitises a classroom at Vidya Bal Bhawan Senior Secondary School in Mayur Vihar, a day before schools in Delhi reopen for students in classes 9 and above.  (Amal KS/HT photo)

The national capital on Sunday added 1,410 Covid-19 cases to its tally, the lowest single-day jump since December 30, when Delhi added 1,313 infections, showed records from the state government.

The fresh infections on Sunday came at a test positivity rate of 2.45%, down from 2.87% a day ago, and a sharp drop from 6.2% samples that returned positive just a week ago.

During the January spike in cases, daily infections hit a record high of 28,867 cases (on January 13), while the positivity rate peaked at 30.64% on January 14.

Data from the state health department’s bulletin released on Sunday showed that 975 Covid-19 patients in the city needed institutional care, leaving a vast majority of the city’s 15,416 beds vacant.

Hospitalisations in Delhi were lower last on January 6 this year, state government records showed.

The city also recorded 14 fresh deaths of the infection on Sunday as the overall toll of the pandemic edged up to 25,983.

Fewer than 9,000 people in Delhi are currently battling Covid-19. This number, known as the active case count, is back at numbers last seen in the early days of January this year.

The fifth wave of Covid-19 infections, which was fuelled by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, appears to be on its way out.

The surge, while widespread, was far less brutal than previous surges of the infection, and did not strain medical infrastructure in the city. At no point did hospital admissions in the city cross 20% of the bed capacity.

This has prompted authorities to ease more pandemic-related curbs in the city, with schools set to reopen in phases from Monday, for instance.