Fresh cases drop to 1,534 on back of a dip in testing

HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI: Fresh Covid-19 cases in Delhi dropped marginally on Saturday on the back of a dip in tests, state government data showed, even as the test positivity rate fell below the 8% mark.

Delhi added 1,534 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, down from 1,797 a day ago, as the number of test samples collected fell to 19,889 from 21,978 on Friday.

Three people also died of the infection on Saturday, the bulletin showed.

The percentage of positive samples, a statistic known as the test positivity rate, fell to 7.71% on Friday, from 8.18% a day ago.

To be sure, over 97% of hospital beds in Delhi reserved for Covid-19 patients were vacant as on Saturday, underlining the milder symptoms caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus that dominates infections in the Capital.

With Saturday’s infections, Delhi’s active Covid caseload crossed the 5,000-mark.

State government data showed that 5,119 in the city are battling Covid-19, the highest this number has been since May 10.

Senior officials of the Delhi health department said this could be higher because several people are either not getting tested or are taking rapid Covid-19 tests at home, which are often not reported to the government.

“Hospitalisations are low and many people are not taking tests. But we urge everyone who has any Covid-like symptom to get tested and if they are taking home tests then record their result. We have set up free Covid testing camps across all our districts,” said a senior health official.

On Saturday, of the 9,506 beds reserved for Covid-19 patients in Delhi, just 241 (2.54%) were occupied, leaving 9,265 (97.46%) vacant. Beds in Covid health centres and care centres continue to remain vacant.

Health experts however cautioned that people should ensure they follow Covid-appropriate behaviour at all times, especially in crowded public places.

“People need to wear a mask, follow hand hygiene and also maintain precaution in crowded public places. The governments need to up surveillance and people need to be cautious. Managing Covid has to be a joint effort,” said Dr KK Talwar, former head of the Medical Council of India.

NEW CASES

NEW DEATHS

POSITIVITY RATE

ACTIVE CASES