Positivity goes past 30% as fresh cases dip; 34 more Covid deaths

New Delhi: The national Capital on Friday recorded 24,383 COVID-19 cases, a 15.5 per cent decline from a day earlier, even as the positivity rate mounted to 30.64 per cent, indicating that almost every third sample collected for a coronavirus test is now being

found positive for the virus in the past 24 hours.

Thirty-four fatalities were also reported on Friday, according to data shared by the Delhi health department. However, the number of tests conducted in a day dropped significantly from nearly 1 lakh to a little less than 80,000.

On Thursday, 28,867 COVID-19 cases were reported, which was the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic, when the city had conducted 98,832 tests.

However, Friday's figure of coronavirus cases came out of 79,578 tests, with a senior government official saying the drop in cases may be due to lower testing, which they attributed to the revised testing guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry.

"The low number of tests can be attributed to the change in testing guidelines. In an advisory issued earlier this week, the (Central) government had said that asymptomatic patients undergoing surgical/non-surgical invasive procedures should not be tested unless warranted or symptoms develop," the official said. The active cases in the city stand at 92,273, of which 64,831 are in home isolation. The number of containment zones is 27,531.

According to the data, the positivity rate recorded on Friday is the highest since May 1 last year when it was 31.61 per cent. In the last 24 hours, 26,236 COVID-19 patients have also recovered from the virus, it said.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said although COVID-19 cases are rising fast in the national Capital, there is no reason to worry, and asserted that hospitalisation and death rates are quite low. He asked people to be responsible and assured them that the government has made all preparations and enough hospital beds are available.

Kejriwal also said restrictions, imposed in view of the surge in coronavirus cases, will be tightened, if necessary, "but if corona cases begin to decline, we will relax the restrictions".

The government said that 2,529 patients are currently in hospitals, and as many as 815 patients are on oxygen support, including 99 who are on ventilator support.

Sharing more evidence to drive the point that Covid vaccines effectively prevent the virus from causing severe Covid-19, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that more than 75 per cent of the deaths recorded in this wave was of unvaccinated Covid-19 patients.

Moreover, the Delhi government has now decided to classify Covid-19 deaths in this wave by the primary cause and secondary cause, with Jain saying that 90 per cent of the deaths this wave was of people with "severe comorbidities" such as cancer and kidney ailments.

The health minister said that more than 13,000 hospital beds are lying vacant in the city.