NEW DELHI: The national capital on Saturday reported 7,897 fresh cases of Covid-19 with a positivity rate of 10.21 per cent.
Delhi also recorded 39 fatalities taking the death toll in the city to 11,235, according to the health department. On Friday, 8,521 cases and 39 deaths were recorded.
While the number of fresh cases may have come down on Saturday, it was mainly a result of fewer Covid-19 tests being conducted on the previous day. The positivity rate breached the 10 per cent mark for the first time this year showing the rise in the spread of infection in the city. The positivity rate mid-November last year had stood above 15 per cent.
The city had recorded a massive spike in Covid-19 cases in the last few weeks. Friday’s tally of 8,521 cases and 39 deaths was the worst in terms of both fresh infections and fatalities this year. On Thursday, the city had recorded 7,437 cases. On preceding two days, the cases count had stood above 5,000.
The number of cumulative cases on Saturday stood at 7,14,423 while over 6.74 lakh have recovered. The number of active cases rose to 28,773 from 26,631 a day before. The number of people under home isolation increased to 15,266, while the number of containment zones mounted to 5,236 on Saturday, the bulletin said. Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Wednesday had warned that the new cases “could cross” the last single-day spike record registered in November, given the pace of the spread of infection.
Testing down
A total of 77,374 tests, including 43,473 RT-PCR tests and 33,901 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, according to the latest health bulletin. A record 1,09,398 tests were conducted on Thursday