Delhi logs 161 new Covid cases, 8 deaths; positivity rate dips to 0.32%

Delhi recorded 161 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in over 8 months, and eight deaths on Monday while the positivity rate dipped to 0.32 per cent, authorities said.

The infection tally in the city rose to 6,32,590 and the death toll mounted to 10,754, they said.

This is the 15th time this month that the daily count of cases stood below the 500-mark, and the fourth consecutive day since January 15 when the figures have stood below the 300-mark.

The city recorded 246 cases on January 17, 299 cases on January 16 and 295 cases on January 15.

On January 14, Delhi had recorded 340 cases and four deaths as the daily fatality count had dropped to single digits after several months.

The 161 fresh cases on Monday came out of 50,523 tests conducted the previous day, including 32,368 RT-PCR tests and 18,155 rapid antigen tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

The number of tests was low as compared to the average of 70,000 as it was a Sunday.

According to the Delhi health department's data, the number of deaths reported on Monday was the lowest since April 30, when 76 fatalities were recorded.

The active cases tally on Monday dropped to 2,332 from 2,544 the previous day, while the positivity rate dropped to 0.32 per cent.

On Sunday, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said, "The positivity rate has remained below 0.5 per cent for the last few days. We can comfortably say that the third wave is on the wane."

"Cases have decreased. Still, I want to appeal to people to take precautions and use masks," he had said.

Of the total 10,128 beds in COVID hospitals, 9,073 are vacant.

The number of tests done per million, as on Sunday, was over 5.22 lakh while the total number of tests stood at over 99 lakh.

The bulletin said 6,19,501 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far.

On Monday, 3,598 healthcare workers in the city -- 44.41 per cent of those registered -- were administered COVID-19 vaccine. Two "severe" and 24 "minor" cases of adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported, officials said.

As many as 4,319 healthcare workers -- 53.3 per cent of those registered -- got the shots on Saturday, the first day of the world's largest vaccination drive against the pandemic.

Experts say people adopting a "wait and watch" approach for the initial few days, lack of communication and glitches in CoWin app are the major reasons behind the low turnout.