Delhi logs 10,756 Covid cases; positivity rate declines to 18.04 per cent

Delhi logged 10,756 Covid cases in a single day and 38 more fatalities due to the infection, while the positivity rate declined to 18.04 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department on Friday.

As many as 434 people have succumbed to the disease so far in January.

According to officials, 59,629 Covid tests were conducted on Thursday, as against 57,290 a day ago. Delhi on Thursday reported 12,306 Covid cases and 43 fatalities, while the positivity rate was 21.48 per cent.

On Wednesday, the city had logged 35 deaths and 13,785 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 23.86 per cent.

It had recorded 28,867 Covid cases last Thursday, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic. The number then declined to 24,383 on Friday, 20,718 on Saturday, 18,286 on Sunday, 12,527 on Monday, and 11,684 on Tuesday.

The positivity rate stood at 30.6 per cent on Saturday, the highest in the ongoing wave of the pandemic so far, 27.9 per cent on Sunday, 28 per cent on Monday and 22.5 per cent on Tuesday.

There are 15,557 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 2,656 (17.07 per cent) of them are occupied. A total of 2,656 Covid patients are in hospitals and 156 of them are on ventilator support, the health department bulletin stated.

Of the 61,954 active Covid cases in Delhi, 48,356 are recovering in home isolation, it said. Since last week, Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been saying that hospital admissions have stabilised in the national capital and the third wave has plateaued. The Delhi government on Thursday capped the rate of conventional RT-PCR tests in private hospitals and laboratories at Rs 300, reducing the price by 40 per cent, according to an order.

Earlier, the test used to cost Rs 500.

Rapid antigen tests at private facilities will cost Rs 100, the order stated.

Earlier, it used to cost Rs 300.