104 deaths in 24 hours as cases rise to record; positivity at 15.9%

New Delhi: The Capital on Wednesday yet again broke its record for new Coronavirus infections, reporting over 17,200 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with 104 more deaths due to the virus as the daily positivity rate shot up to over 15.9 per cent.

As per the latest bulletin, 104 new fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll to 11,540. The last time daily deaths were above 100 was on November 30 last year, when the city reported 108 deaths. The highest daily death figure in the city was 131 on November 18 amid the peak of the third wave in Delhi.

On Wednesday, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot also tested positive for the virus and advised those who came in contact with him to take necessary precautions. Gahlot was given the first dose of the vaccine last Wednesday.

These record new positive cases on Wednesday came out of record 1.08 lakh tests conducted the previous day, the bulletin said. Of these, 73,915 were RT-PCR tests and 34,619 were rapid antigen tests.

The highest single-day spike in Delhi till the third wave of the pandemic — 8,593 cases —was reported on November 11 in 2020, while on November 18, the city had recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality count till date.

And amid the raging cases, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that journalists should be vaccinated on priority and treated as frontline workers. In a post on Twitter, the CM said, "Journalists are reporting from most adverse situations. They shud be treated as frontline workers and shud be allowed vaccination on priority. Delhi govt is writing to centre in this regard."

Significantly, vaccinations in the city dipped considerably on Wednesday, with many choosing to delay their shots in light of religious festivals involving fasting. The bulletin from the Delhi government showed that 68,422 people received their Covid-19 vaccine dose on Wednesday, of which over 55,800 got their first dose and the rest, their second one.

Just a day ago, the city had vaccinated nearly 90,000 people.

So far, over 23.02 lakh people have received either one or both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Reeling under the fourth wave of COVID-19, the national capital on Tuesday had recorded 13,468 cases and 81 deaths due to the infection, giving it the dubious distinction of being the worst-affected city in the county.