Delhi records zero Covid death, 32 cases; positivity rate rises to 0.14%

Delhi on Friday recorded zero death due to COVID-19 and 32 fresh cases, even as the positivity rate climbed to 0.14 per cent after fluctuating in the range of 0.05-0.10 per cent for the past several weeks, official data showed.

The number of cumulative cases stood at 14,40,035, according to data shared by the city health department. Over 14.14 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.

The rise in positivity rate has been registered amid the ongoing festive season, with experts cautioning that there should be no laxity in observing Covid-appropriate behaviours.

The death toll from the pandemic stands at 25,091 in Delhi. The national capital has not reported any death due to COVID-19 so far this month. It reported four COVID-19 deaths in October and five in September.

The case positivity rate rose to 0.14 per cent on Friday, according to the latest health bulletin.

On Thursday, 40 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent.

On Wednesday, 41 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent, while on Tuesday, 34 cases were recorded with a positivity rate of 0.07 per cent, according to official data.

A total of 22,603 tests -- 21,195 RT-PCR tests and 1,408 rapid antigen tests -- were conducted a day ago, the bulletin said.

Fifteen cases with a positivity rate of 0.03 per cent were recorded on October 18. This was the lowest daily case count since March 28 last year when nine cases were logged, according to the official data.

The daily case count had dropped to 17 on September 13, with no death being recorded, while the positivity rate stood at 0.04 per cent, according to official figures.

The number of cases have shown a downward trend and the positivity rate too has been shrinking in the last several weeks.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Cabinet approved a budget of Rs 1,544 crore to bolster the health system and augment its capacity to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Delhi's fight against COVID-19 will get stronger after Delhi Cabinet's nod to the state's own 'Emergency COVID Response Package', the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.

"This budget will be spent on further enhancing testing and labs, procuring supplies, mobilising additional human resources, increasing health facilities in the hospitals and managing Covid Care Centres, among others," it said.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had recently said medical infrastructure was being ramped up and 37,000 beds dedicated for COVID-19 patients were being set up to tackle the anticipated third wave of the pandemic in the national capital.

The number of active cases increased to 328 on Friday from 303 a day before, according to the bulletin.

The number of people under home isolation stood at 158 on Friday while it was 146 a day before, and the number of containment zones in the city stood at 109, same as on Thursday, the bulletin said.