Positivity under 5%, 3K more cases; DDMA to meet Friday, CM to attend

New Delhi: As the Capital's daily Covid-19 positivity rate declined further to below 5 per cent on Wednesday, the Health Department reported 3,028 new cases and 27 more deaths in a day.

And with the trend of lowering positivity rate continuing, parents and teachers have once again called for schools to be reopened for physical classes as the Delhi Disaster Management Authority is set to meet tomorrow (Friday) with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expected to attend. While the DDMA had last week reopened almost all economic activities under Covid protocol, it had chosen to be cautious and keep schools in the city shut — a move that frustrated parents and teachers, with educationists going as far as to call it a "crime".

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had decided to lift weekend curfew and the odd-even system of opening non-essential shops in the city besides allowing restaurants, bars, cinema halls and theatres to reopen with 50 per cent capacity, given the improving Covid situation last week but kept schools shut. The Delhi government had made its position clear in last week's meeting and suggested that schools be allowed to reopen but the L-G Anil Baijal-led DDMA disagreed, prompting parents to ask, "Why not schools if everything else allowed?"

But while markets and traders were provided relief from the shutdown last week as the weekend curfew was lifted, many on Wednesday sought that the DDMA consider the dropping positivity rate and lift the night curfew as well. Delhi's caseload has been dropping quickly after it peaked after daily cases reached over 28,800. And the positivity has climbed up to over 30 per cent and come down to below 5 per cent in the last few weeks. On Wednesday, the city reported a 4.73 per cent Covid positivity rate after conducting 63,982 tests on Tuesday.

Delhi on Tuesday reported 2,683 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 5.09 per cent, while 27 more people succumbed to the viral disease. It took just 10 days for daily cases to drop below the 10,000 mark.

And on Wednesday, the city reported a little less than 15,000 active cases, of which over 10,300 are in home isolation.

There are 15,426 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 1,400 (9.08 per cent) of them are occupied. Also, in total 451 coronavirus patients were on oxygen support, of whom 99 severe Covid patients were on ventilator support, as per the bulletin.