NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 5,482 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, while 98 more fatalities linked to the disease pushed the city's death toll to 8,909 on Friday, authorities said.
According to a bulletin issued by the Delhi Health Department on Friday, the total number of coronavirus cases climbed to 5,56,744 on Friday, of which 5,09,654 have recovered.
The tally of active cases in Delhi was 38,181 down from 38,734 on Thursday.
The positivity rate was 8.51 percent. It was 8.65 percent on Thursday and 8.49 percent on Wednesday.
As many as 64,455 tests, including 28,100 RT-PCR tests and 36,355 rapid antigen tests, were conducted the previous day for the detection of COVID-19, according to the bulletin.
On Wednesday, Delhi conducted 28,897 RT-PCR tests -- the highest till date for the city.
It had recorded its highest single-day spike of 8,593 cases on November 11. As many as 131 COVID-related deaths were recorded on November 18, the highest in a day so far.
Delhi recorded 6,746 cases on Sunday, 4,454 on Monday, 6,224 on Tuesday, 5,246 on Wednesday and 5,475 on Thursday.
The number of COVID-19 containment zones in Delhi rose to 5,229 on Friday from 5,156 on Thursday.
Of the total number of 18,287 beds in COVID-19 hospitals, 9,372 are vacant, according to the official data.
Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said Delhi has sufficient infrastructure and equipment to vaccinate its entire population in a few weeks once a COVID-19 vaccine is available.
"There is no need to worry about storage of vaccines. We have a large number of health care facilities, such as mohalla clinics, poly clinics, and hospitals etc., where a Covid-19 vaccine can be administered to people," Jain told reporters.
"Once a vaccine is available, we can vaccinate the entire population of Delhi in a few weeks," the minister said.
Jain also said Delhi should be given priority during the distribution of the vaccine as it is the national capital.
A three-storeyed building on the premises of Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital has also been identified for storage of COVID-19 vaccines.
The health minister said COVID-19 positivity rate in the national capital has decreased by 45 per cent since November 7.
Jain said the number of COVID-19 tests being conducted in Delhi was around three times the national average.
He had on Thursday said testing for COVID-19 has reached the "saturation level" and that laboratories are finding it difficult to release results of all RT-PCR tests the same day.