City reports 273 Covid deaths, lowest since April 21; positivity rate at 21.6%

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 273 more coronavirus deaths on Sunday, the lowest since April 21, and 13,336 new infections with a positivity rate of 21.67 per cent, the Health Department said. The number of new cases, the lowest since April 12, can be attributed to a smaller number of tests — 61,552 — conducted on Saturday.

Over 1.29 lakh beneficiaries were vaccinated on Saturday, the highest since the inoculation drive began on January 16. Of these, 90,289 were those who got their first dose, according to a health bulletin.

There are 86,232 active cases, including 52,263 in home isolation. More than 14,500 people recuperated, taking the number of recoveries to 12.17 lakh, the bulletin stated.

The number of cases stands at 13,23,567 and the death toll at 19,344. A total of 61,552 tests, including 49787 RTPCR/CBNAAT/True Nat, were conducted on Saturday. At 21.67 per cent, the positivity rate is the lowest since April 16 when it stood at 19.7 per cent, according to government data. Of the 22,545 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, only 2,633 are vacant, it said.

Delhi had reported 17,364 cases on Saturday with a positivity rate was 23.34 per cent and 332 fatalities. On April 22, a positivity rate of 36.2 per cent, the highest so far, was recorded.

Meanwhile, North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash on Sunday launched a project for manufacturing fuel blocks from cultivation refuse and cow dung for use in crematoriums.

Prakash said the corporation will use these fuel blocks in place of firewood, according to an official statement.

"He said that approximately 300-400 kg goparali (cow dung) per day will be manufactured here," the corporation's statement noted. Prakash said the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has set up the fuel block manufacturing plant in collaboration with an NGO — The Family of Shirdi Sai Baba.

"He said that we will ask other NGOs running our crematoriums to reduce reliability on wood and help in keeping the environment clean," the corporation's statement said.

The move came at a time crematoriums in the national capital were stretched to their limit following a large number of deaths due to COVID-19.

Meanwhile, netizens flooded social media platforms with Thank You messages for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his government, praising them for "orderly arrangements" and "smooth execution" of the ongoing third phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive.

Many took to Twitter to share their experiences of getting vaccinated in the mega drive, which they said was done by "calm professionals" in a seamless manner while maintaining all coronavirus protocols.

"@ArvindKejriwal Thank you Sir, you are really a unique CM I ever seen, I got vaccinated yesterday, the management was incredible there was proper social distancing and the doctor were very polite towards all vaccine takers.. We are proud to hv CM like you... AK70," read the tweet of a Twitter handle @VInduriya.

"Got my first dose of Covishield today at Jhandelwalan...good and orderly arrangements at the vaccination centre....helpful staff and officials....Thank you @ArvindKejriwal and @msisodia for the well managed vaccination...#vaccinated #Covishield #VaccineForAll," tweeted one Romil Kumar.