New Delhi: Delhi recorded 7,437 fresh COVID-19 cases Thursday, the highest single-day surge this year, while 24 more people died due to the coronavirus infection, taking the death toll to 11,157, according to the ciity's Health Department.
The positivity rate also mounted to 8.1 per cent from 6.1 per cent the previous day, as the massive spike in cases witnessed over the past few weeks continues.
This is also the first time that over 7,000 cases have been reported in a day this year.
The daily case count for the past two days was also above 5,000. The highest single-day spike in Delhi till date — 8,593 cases — was reported on November 11, while on November 19, the city recorded 131 COVID-19 deaths, the highest single-day fatality since the pandemic began.
On November 27, the city had recorded 5,482 cases and 6,224 cases on November 24 and 7,486 on November 18, as per official data.
A total of 91,770 tests, including 52,696 RT-PCR tests and 39,074 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, the bulletin said.
The number of cumulative cases on Thursday stood at 6,98,005. Over 6.63 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.
As per the latest bulletin, 24 more people died due to the disease, taking the toll to 11,157.
The number of active cases rose to 23,181 from 19,455 a day before. The number of people under home isolation increased to 11,367 from 10,048 on Wednesday while the number of containment zones mounted to 4,226 from 3,708 a day before, the bulletin said.
The Delhi Government's Department of Health and Family Welfare passed fresh orders on Thursday regarding facilities for COVID-19 patients in Delhi Government Hospitals in view of the rising number of cases in the capital. As per orders issued by S M Ali, Special Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), "Doctors belonging to Dental and Ayush cadre will also be detailed for COVID duties in hospitals designated for COVID-19 treatment". Medical Directors, Medical Superintendents and Directors of these hospitals have been directed to requisition their medical staff according to requirement.
Orders were also directed to depute sufficient manpower/ infrastructure in the holding/ triage area with enough oxygen facility to avoid unnecessary wait for a long time for completing the admission procedure which may lead to increase In chance of spread of COVID-19 further due to crowded areas. Hospitals have been asked to ensure that no patient is kept waiting for more than 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, over 83,000 beneficiaries received COVID-19 vaccine shots in Delhi on Thursday, even as the city recorded this year's highest single-day spike of 7,437 cases.
By 6 pm, at least 83,437 people had been vaccinated, a senior official of the Delhi health department said.
Of these, 72,267 beneficiaries were administered the first dose and 11,170 were given the second dose. As many as 47,382 beneficiaries in the age group of 45-59 received the shots, he said. Two cases of minor adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) were reported, he added.