523 fresh cases in Capital, 50 deaths
New Delhi: Delhi recorded 523 fresh COVID-19 cases and 50 fatalities on Friday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.68 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here. According to the latest health bulletin, these new fatalities pushed the death toll from COVID-19 here to 24,497.
On Thursday, Delhi had recorded 487 cases of COVID-19, the lowest daily count in over two-and-a-half months and 45 fatalities. This was the first time the daily death count had gone below the 50-mark since April 11 when the tally was 48. The positivity rate on Thursday had stood at 0.61 per cent.
On March 16, Delhi had recorded 425 cases and on March 17, the tally was 536, according to official data.
Meanwhile, in anticipation of a possible third wave hitting the city, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday held two key meetings to discuss preparations — one with the Expert Committee and one with the Preparation Committee.
The Expert Committee comprises eight senior bureaucrats of the Delhi government and the 13-member task force includes doctors, experts and government officials to look into the issue of a third wave impacting children more severely.
The Chief Minister's Office said after the meetings that the experiences of other countries showed that a next wave of the pandemic could come any time and that the city must prepare accordingly.
It added that preparations were underway in areas of oxygen management and bed augmentation keeping in mind scientific projections made by a team from the Indian Institute of Technology.
Also, keeping an eye on the anticipated third wave of the pandemic, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday visited two healthcare project sites at Aruna Asaf Ali Hospital and LNJP Hospital.
Delhi has been reeling under a brutal second wave of the pandemic that is sweeping the country, claiming a massive number of lives daily, with the recent oxygen supply shortage issue at various hospitals, adding to the woes.
Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day deaths count had been spiralling up, with over 28,000 cases and 277 deaths recorded on April 20; rising to 306 fatalities on April 22. On May 3, the city registered a record 448 deaths, as per the official data.
However, the number of cases has shown a downward trend and the positivity rate too has been shrinking in the last several days. The number of deaths per day, has also been showing a decline in the last couple of days.
A total of 77,174 tests, including 53,688 RT-PCR tests and 23,486 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, according to the health bulletin on Friday.
The number of active cases decreased to 8,060 on Friday from 8,748 a day before, the bulletin said.
The number of people under home isolation dipped to 3,813 from 4,233 on Thursday while the number of containment zones dropped to 14,324 from 16,287 a day before, the bulletin said.
