414 fresh Covid cases in Delhi; 60 deaths, positivity rate slips to 0.53 pc

Delhi recorded 414 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in over two-and-a-half months and 60 fatalities on Saturday, while the positivity rate dipped to 0.53 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.

According to the latest health bulletin, these new fatalities pushed the death toll from COVID-19 here to 24,557.

On Friday, the city had recorded 523 cases with a positivity rate of 0.68 per cent, and 50 deaths.

On Thursday, Delhi had recorded 487 cases of COVID-19 and 45 fatalities fatalities. This was the first time the daily death count had gone below the 50-mark since April 11 when the tally was 48. The positivity rate on Thursday had stood at 0.61 per cent.

On March 16, Delhi had recorded 425 cases and on March 17, the tally was 536, according to official data.

The infection rate, which had reached to 36 per cent in the last week of April, has come down to below 1 per cent now.

Meanwhile, during the media briefing on Saturday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said around 400 fresh cases were reported in Delhi and positivity rate has come down to about 0.5 per cent, adding that the coronavirus situation is quite under control.

"Bringing back the economy on tracks is crucial as the situation of coronavirus is improving," he said.

Kejriwal had held two key meetings on Friday to discuss preparations for the anticipated third wave of the coronavirus pandemic He held an important meeting with the expert committee and then with the preparation committee later.

Delhi has been reeling under a brutal second wave of the pandemic that is sweeping the country, claiming a massive number of lives daily, with the recent oxygen supply shortage issue at various hospitals, adding to the woes.

Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day deaths count had been spiralling up, with over 28,000 cases and 277 deaths recorded on April 20; rising to 306 fatalities on April 22. On May 3, the city registered a record 448 deaths, as per the official data.

However, the number of cases have shown a downward trend and the positivity rate too has been shrinking in the last several days. The number of deaths per day, has also been showing a decline in the last couple of days.

The national capital had recorded 648 cases and 86 fatalities on Monday, 623 cases and 62 deaths on Tuesday, 576 cases and 103 fatalities on Wednesday.

On May 15, Kejriwal had said,"The virus is reducing in Delhi slowly and steadily, and I hope it diminishes completely and does not rise again. However, we are not going to become negligent in anyway", while sounding a tone of caution.

A total of 77,694 tests, including 55,635 RT-PCR tests and 22,059 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, according to the health bulletin on Saturday.

The number of cumulative cases on Saturday stood at 14,28,863. Over 13.9 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.

The number of active cases decreased to 6,731 on Saturday from 8,060 a day before, the bulletin said.

The number of people under home isolation dipped to 2,855 from 3,813 on Friday while the number of containment zones dropped to 12,296 from 14,324 a day before, it said.