Delhi records 7,897 fresh Covid-19 cases, positivity rate mounts to 10.21%

This took the death toll to 11,235

Delhi recorded 7,897 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Saturday,while39 more people died due to the infection, taking the death toll to 11,235, according to the city Health Department.

The positivity rate also mounted to 10.21 per cent, breaching the 10 per cent for the first time this year.

The positivity rate mid-November last year had stood above 15 per cent.

On Friday, 8,521 cases and 39 deaths were recorded. This was also the first time that over 8,000 cases had been recorded in a day this year amid a massive spike in cases in the span of the last few weeks.

The highest single-day spike in Delhi till date -- 8,593 cases -- was reported on November 11 in 2020, while on November 19, the national capital had recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count till date.

On Thursday, the city had recorded 7,437 cases. On preceding two days, the cases count had stood above 5,000.

Delhi had recorded 5,482 cases on November 27 and 6,224 cases on November 24 and 7,486 on November 18, according to official data.

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.

The number of cumulative cases on Saturday stood at 7,14,423.

Over 6.74 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.

According to the bulletin, 39 more people died due to the disease, taking the toll to 11,235.

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 from 13,188 on Friday, while the number of containment zones mounted to 5,236 on Saturday from 4,768 a day before, the bulletin said.

Delhi 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.