Delhi reports 1,063 Covid-19 infections, positivity rate at 1.18%

The positivity rate – proportion of samples that tested positive among total tested – also rose slightly to 1.18% on Thursday.

After three days consecutive days of reporting fewer than a thousand infections, 1,063 people were tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Thursday, according to the daily health bulletin.

A health worker collects a swab sample for coronavirus screenig, at Bara Tuti Chowk in Sadar Bazar, New Delhi. (Biplov Bhuyan/HT PHOTO)

The positivity rate – proportion of samples that tested positive among total tested – also rose slightly to 1.18% on Thursday. The positivity rate has consistently been declining in the city since mid-November when it touched the highest 15.33% during the third wave of the infection. It has remained below 5% for 22 days now and below 2% for 10 days, as per the data shared by the government.

“The situation has improved a lot. The positivity rate dipped below 1% and the number of deaths has also gone down. We need to reduce it further. The recovery rate has also increased a lot,” said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press briefing on Thursday.

The number of deaths also went up slightly. The city saw 37 deaths on Wednesday as compared to an average 28.5 deaths recorded a day during the last seven days. The seven-day case fatality ratio – the proportion of deaths among those who tested positive – shot up to 2.73% from the 1.87% at the beginning of the month.

The cumulative CFR – calculated on the basis of the total number of cases and deaths – has also been inching upwards since mid-November after declining consistently since recording 4.11% in June. So far, the highest number of deaths reported in a day was 131 recorded on November 18 during the third surge in the number of cases.

“It is unlikely that Delhi will see a huge surge like this with a high proportion of people having been exposed to the infection already. It is likely that infections get reported from pockets,” Dr Shobha Broor former head of the department of microbiology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences had said.

Delhi tested 89,990 samples on Wednesday of which 47,889 were done using the gold standard RT-PCR method and the rest 42,031 with the less reliable rapid antigen technique.