Delhi’s Covid cases, oxygen demand fall

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Thursday said it has scaled down its requirement of medical oxygen from 700 metric tonne (MT) to 582 MT in view of the receding Covid-19 trajectory in the city, with cases and positivity rates seeing a steady drop over the past two weeks.

The positivity rate – the proportion of samples tested that return positive for Covid-19 – continued to its sharp decline and touched 14.24% on Thursday, the lowest in a single day in a month, or since April 13.

A total of 10,489 new cases were reported on Thursday, the lowest daily tally since April 10.

Meanwhile, India continued to record more than 4,000 Covid-19 deaths for a second straight day on Thursday as

MEANWHILE, INDIA CONTINUED TO RECORD MORE THAN 4,000 COVID19 DEATHS FOR A SECOND STRAIGHT DAY ON THURSDAY AS INFECTIONS STAYED BELOW 400,000

infections stayed below

400,000.

According to the Union health ministry, India saw 362,727 new Covid-19 infections in the 24 hours to Thursday while deaths climbed by 4,120.

The national capital recorded 10,489 new cases and 308 more fatalities on Thursday while the positivity rate fell to 14.24 per cent, the lowest in a month, the health department said.

With the fresh infections and fatalities, Delhi’s caseload has risen to 13,72,475 and the death toll has climbed 20,618, it said.

The number of new infections is the lowest since April 10 when 7,897 people had tested positive for COVID-19. The positivity rate is the lowest since April 13, when it stood at 13.1 per cent, according to government data.

Delhi had reported 13,287 cases on Wednesday, 12,481 cases on Tuesday, 12,651 on Monday, 13,336 on Sunday and 17,364 on Saturday.

The positivity rate was 17 per cent on Wednesday, 17.8 per cent on Tuesday, 19.10 per cent on Monday, 21.67 per cent on Sunday and 23.34 per cent on Saturday.

On April 22, Delhi recorded its highest positivity rate of 36.2 per cent.

The national capital recorded 300 deaths on Wednesday, 347 deaths on Tuesday, 319 on Monday, 273 deaths on Sunday and 332 deaths on Saturday.

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

On Wednesday, 73,675 tests, including 58709 RTPCR/ CBNAAT/True Nat tests, were conducted in Delhi, the health department said in a bulletin.

As many as 15,189 people recovered from the infection in a day, it said.

The number of active cases in the city stands at 77,717, down from 82,725 the previous day, and 48,340 of them are in home isolation, it added.

Over 12.74 lakh people have either recovered, migrated out of Delhi or have been discharged, according to the health bulletin.

Of the 23,423 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, 5,212 are vacant, the bulletin stated.