Covid: Delhi sees 20,718 new cases, 30 deaths; positivity rate stays at 30%

Delhi on Saturday reported 20,718 Covid cases and 30 fatalities while the positivity rate stood at 30.64 per cent, according to health department data.

Delhi on Saturday reported 20,718 Covid-19 cases and 30 fatalities while the positivity rate stood at 30.64 per cent, according to health department data.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government will think of easing restrictions when the cases decline to 15,000.

The dip in the number of cases can be attributed to fewer tests (67,724) conducted the previous day, a sharp decline as compared to 1.05 lakh tests on January 11.

A senior health department official said Delhi has been following the Centre's new guidelines for Covid testing which is the "reason for a dip in the number of tests conducted daily".

According to the guidelines, asymptomatic patients do not need to undergo a test. Also, contacts of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients do not require a test unless they have comorbidities or are aged above 60.

On Friday, Delhi had reported 24,383 cases with a positivity rate of 30.64 per cent and 34 deaths.

On Thursday, the city logged 28,867 COVID-19 cases, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic, and 31 deaths, while the positivity rate stood at 29.21 per cent.

Delhi's previous biggest daily jump of 28,395 cases was recorded on April 20 last year. On Wednesday, Delhi had logged 40 deaths, the highest since June 10 last year, when 44 fatalities were recorded.

The capital has recorded 228 deaths due to the infection in January so far. It saw 130 fatalities in the last six months -- nine in December, seven in November, four in October, five in September and 29 in August.

In July, Covid claimed 76 lives in the city.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Jain have repeatedly stressed that most deaths this time are due to comorbidities.

A recent analysis of 97 deaths that occurred between January 9 and January 12 showed that most of the patients had comorbidities. Seventy of them were not vaccinated and 62 were aged below 60.

According to the government data, 2,518 Covid patients are in hospitals, of which 113 are on ventilator support. Of the 15,494 beds in hospitals, just 2,620 are occupied.

Jain had on Thursday said the number of hospital admissions has plateaued which indicates that the ongoing wave may have peaked and the cases may go down soon.