NEW DELHI: If the daily health bulletin released by the Delhi government is anything to go by, the Covid-19 crisis in the national capital is subsiding.
On Monday, Delhi recorded 4,524 fresh cases, the least in the last 41 days. There were 340 deaths, while test positivity rate dipped to 8.42 per cent. On April 6, the city had registered 5,100 cases, which was the highest single day count this year, with 17 fatalities. It was termed the fourth wave in the city and the situation deteriorated thereafter.
Monday’s relatively low count follows a fewer number of tests —53,756 — conducted on Sunday. Delhi had reported 6,456 cases on Sunday and the number was 6,430 on Saturday. Positivity rate was 10.40 per cent and 11.32 per cent on Sunday and Saturday, respectively. The number of deaths were 262 and 337.
High positivity rate and incessant rise in cases in April caused severe shortage of beds in hospitals and oxygen.
As the pressure mounted on the medical infrastructure, several patients died in the absence of adequate medical care and oxygen. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a lockdown on April 19, which has been extended until May 24.
The situation started improving last week, as the number of cases and positivity rate started coming down. The daily tally went below 10,000 on May 14 for the first time since April 11.
As per the health bulletin, the city witnessed 8,506 positive cases on that day, while positivity rate was 12.40 per cent. The deth count for the day was 289.
A total of 10,732 patients had tested positive on April 11. The positivity rate was 9.43 percent. In four days, there was a sudden spike and positivity rate rose to 15.92 per cent.
The number of active cases reached an all-time high of 50,736. Positivity rate rose to 20.22 per cent on April 20. It has been better the last few days.
Capital seeing steady fall in positivity rates
On April 22, Delhi’s positivity rate was a frightening 36.2% — the highest ever. But it has seen a decline since then.
On April 27, the positivity rate was 32.7%, which dipped to 31.8% on the following day. After that, there has been a steady fall in this figure.
Meanwhile, May 3 was a black day, when the capital suffered its biggest death toll so far. The total was 448.
