Delhi reports 39 Covid-19 infections; count of active cases drops below 500

The national capital reported 39 COVID-19 infections and one fatality on Monday, while the number of active cases in the city dropped below 500 for the first time since April last year, according to data shared by the Health department here.

With the new cases, the overall infection tally in the city climbs to 14,36,800. Of this, over 14.11 lakh patients have recovered from the disease.

The death toll now stands at 25,067.

On Sunday, the capital reported 66 cases of the disease with a positivity rate of 0.10 per cent.

On Saturday, the city had reported 72 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 0.10 per cent and one death. On Friday, Delhi registered 44 cases with a positivity rate of 0.06 percent and five deaths.

There are 498 active cases of the disease in Delhi at present, and 178 of them are under home-isolation.

According to covid19India.org, a crowdsourced initiative that collects data on COVID-19 cases and vaccination in India, Delhi had reported 480 active cases on April 5 last year.

The number of containment zones stands at 271, the bulletin said.

Delhi battled a brutal second wave of the pandemic that claimed a massive number of lives, with the shortage of oxygen at hospitals across the city adding to the woes.

On April 20, Delhi had reported 28,395 cases, the highest in the city since the beginning of the pandemic. On April 22, the case positivity rate was 36.2 per cent, the highest so far.

The highest number of 448 deaths was reported on May 3.

The city government has been ramping up health infrastructure to prevent a repeat of the crisis witnessed during the peak of the second wave of the pandemic in April-May.

Steps have been taken to increase the number of hospital beds to accommodate up to 37,000 cases a day and to become self-reliant in terms of oxygen supply.

According to officials, around 160 PSA oxygen generation plants with a total capacity of 148.11 metric tonnes are being installed at various government and private hospitals in the city.

While 66 plants are being installed in Delhi government hospitals, 10 are being set up in central government hospitals and 84 in private healthcare facilities.

Forty-five PSA plants with a capacity of 55.46 MT have already been commissioned. Eighteen such plants of 21.06 MT capacity will be commissioned by August 15, according to health department officials.

However, the tardy supply of COVID-19 vaccines is a cause of concern, the officials said.

According to government data, 1.07 crore vaccine doses have been administered in the capital since the inoculation exercise started on January 16. Over 29 lakh people have received both the doses.

The Health department had recently told the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) that it will take another year to vaccinate all eligible beneficiaries aged above 18 against the coronavirus at "the present rate of vaccine supply".

The officials said around 1.5 crore beneficiaries are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination in the national capital and three crore doses are required to fully inoculate them.

Around 45 lakh doses are required every month to complete the vaccination by December 2021.