Positivity dips as 5.7K fresh cases reported in a day

New Delhi: The number of new Covid-19 cases in a day reduced significantly in Monday's health bulletin to around 5,700 with the daily positivity rate dropping further to 11.79 per cent. However, this came from around 48,800 tests conducted on Sunday — considerably lower than the days before.

Moreover, the Delhi Health Department said that 30 more deaths from the virus were reported in a single day — taking the toll to 25,650. The number of daily cases in Delhi has been declining after touching the record high of 28,867 on January 13. As many as 543 people have succumbed to Covid in the national capital so far in January. However, Health Minister Satyendar Jain and officials have maintained that most patients had comorbidities, such as cancer, liver or kidney diseases, and Covid wasn't the primary reason for deaths this time.

There are 15,411 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 2,394 (15.53 per cent) of them are occupied. The bulletin stated that the number of Covid patients in hospitals has dropped from 2,624 on January 19 to 2,290 on Monday. Currently, 160 patients are on ventilator support. There are 45,140 active Covid cases in Delhi. Of these, 36,838 patients are recovering in home isolation, it said.

While the decline in cases allowed the Delhi Disaster Management Authority to ease restrictions such as allowing 50 per cent staff at private offices, L-G Anil Baijal had overruled the Delhi government to continue with weekend and night curbs along with the odd-even rule for marketplaces.

This move last week has caused much furore among traders in the city, who have threatened to protest if the restrictions are not eased in a couple of days.

The DDMA is next scheduled to meet on Thursday to discuss the declining cases and decide on the way ahead for the restrictions.