Delhi records 419 fresh Covid-19 infections; positivity rate at 0.56%

Delhi crossed the 400-mark in daily cases for the third consecutive day

Delhi on Saturday recorded 419 new COVID-19 cases, crossing the 400-mark for the third consecutive day, while the positivity rate stood at 0.56 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.

Interacting with reporters, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday the figures of over 400 per day suddenly were "not alarming", and asserted that the positivity rate was still below one per cent.

The city recorded 419 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, while the death toll climbed to 10,939 with three more fatalities, as per the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi Health Department.

On Friday, 431 cases were recorded, the highest single-day spike in over two months, while the count on Thursday was 409.

Delhi had registered 370 cases on Wednesday and 320 on Tuesday. The city had reported three deaths due to the disease on Wednesday and four on Tuesday.

A total of 585 cases were reported on January 1 and 424 on January 3. The daily count had dropped to 306 on January 11 and risen again to 386 on January 12, according to official figures.

The numbers had started to come down in February. On February 26, the month's highest daily count of 256 cases was recorded.

The new coronavirus cases recorded on Saturday took the infection tally to 6,43,289, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases of the disease in the city rose to 2,207 from 2,093 on Friday, while the positivity rate rose to 0.60 from 0.59 per cent the previous day.

Health experts and doctors have attributed this "sudden rise" to people turning complacent, not following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and "assuming all is well now".

The total number of tests conducted on Friday stood at 74,326, including 47,120 RT-PCR tests and 27,206 rapid antigen tests, the bulletin said.

The number of people under home isolation on Saturday rose to 1,204 from 1,097 on Friday, it said, adding that over 6.30 lakh people have recovered from the infection till date.