Covid: Positivity rate falls below 3% in Delhi; 1604 new cases

Delhi on Saturday reported 1,604 COVID-19 cases and 17 fatalities, while the positivity rate declined to 2.87 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.

On Friday, the national capital had reported 2,272 fresh COVID-19 cases and 20 deaths, while the positivity rate was at 3.85 per cent.

With Saturday's cases, the national capital's case count increased to 18,42523 and the death toll climbed to 25,969 the latest health bulletin stated.

The number of COVID-19 tests conducted on Friday was 55824, it said.

Delhi had on Thursday reported 2,668 cases with a positivity rate of 4.3 per cent, and 13 deaths.

The number of daily cases in Delhi has been on the decline after touching the record high of 28,867 on January 13.

The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the ongoing wave of the pandemic. It took just 10 days for daily cases to drop below the 10,000-mark.

The surge in ases in Delhi during the third wave of the pandemic was due to the Omicron variant of the virus which is highly transmissible.

Several families in a large number of neighbourhoods had tested positive, but medical experts have said that since the infection had happened at the same time, the recovery too has been quicker for the community as a whole, and there was a less chance of more spread of infection as people have been largely home isolated with a very little number of patients needing hospitalisation this time.

Meanwhile, the DDMA, at a meeting on Friday to review the COVID-19 situation, decided to reopen higher education institutions and coaching centres along with schools for class 9-12 from February 7.

The DDMA, however, decided that night curfew will continue in Delhi.

Gyms have also been allowed to reopen with certain restrictions, officials said.

There are 15,416 beds for COVID-19 patients in Delhi hospitals and 1,037 (6.73 per cent) of them were occupied.