142 new cases; over 15,800 get shots

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 142 new COVID-19 cases and two more deaths on Thursday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.22 per cent, authorities said.

On February 9, no fatality from coronavirus infection was recorded in the national capital.

The positivity rate on Thursday stood at 0.22 per cent, authorities said.

Delhi had recorded 96 coronavirus cases on January 27, the lowest in over nine months, and for the first time, the count of daily incidences had stood below the 100-mark in that month.

Also, on Friday and Sunday, the fatality counts were two on both days, same as on February 2.

These new 142 cases came out of the 64,328 tests conducted the previous day, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

The total number of tests conducted the previous day, included 41,943 RT-PCR tests and 22,385 rapid antigen tests, the bulletin said.

The infection tally in the city rose to 6,36,529 and the death toll mounted to 10,886 with two more fatalities, authorities said.

The tally of active cases on Thursday rose to 1,051 from 1,046 the previous day, according to the bulletin.

Meanwhile, over 15,800 beneficiaries received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi on Thursday in the fourth week of the inoculation drive, registering a turnout of 62 per cent, according to data shared by officials.

Senior officials said the number of vaccination centres were increased to 253 on Thursday from 183 earlier.

On Wednesday, the corresponding figures were 14,743 with a turnout of about 80 per cent.

Besides healthcare workers, frontline workers, who include, police, civil defence staff, DJB and electricity department employees, among others, are also getting jabs for the last several days.

Also, the number of scheduled days, from initially four days — Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday — have now been extended to six days a week, Monday-Saturday.

After a sluggish start, since the exercise was kicked off on January 16, the inoculation drive had picked up pace in the last several days.

"Today, 15,807 people were administered coronavirus vaccine, and AEFI (adverse events following immunisation) was reported in 12 persons," a senior official of the Delhi Health Department said.

The number of people vaccinated against COVID-19 till date in Delhi, majority of whom are healthcare workers, has crossed the one lakh-mark, officials had said on Saturday.

Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on January 16, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) health workers against a target of 8,117, were administered the shots at 81 centres across the city on day one.

On the second scheduled day, the figures had stood at 3,598 (44 per cent of the target). The sharp fall had come after one severe and 50 minor adverse effect cases were reported, on the opening day of the vaccination drive.

The count on third schedule day was much higher, at 4,936 (48 per cent).