Capital sees 1,547 cases & 32 deaths

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 1,547 fresh COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with over 79,000 tests conducted, even as the positivity rate stood at 1.96 percent, authorities said.

The death toll mounted to 10,147 with 32 new fatalities while the active case tally dropped to 13,261 from 14,480 the previous day, they said.

This is the second consecutive day when the positivity

rate remained below two percent.

The positivity rate from December 3 to December 7 had successively dipped to 4.96 percent, 4.78 percent, 4.2 percent, 3.68 percent and 3.15 percent respectively.

However, on December 8 it had risen again to 4.23 percent, falling again to 3.42 percent on December 9 and 2.46 percent on December 10.

It had risen to 3.33 percent again on December 11 and fell again to 2.64 percent on December 12. It rose marginally again to 2.74 on December 13, and fell again to 2.15 percent on December 14.

These 1,547 fresh cases came out of 79,042 tests conducted the previous day, including 37,885-PCR tests, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

The bulletin said that the total number of cases has climbed to 6,11,994.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday said Delhi is "aggressively tackling" the COVID-19 situation and not only has the positivity rate dipped to below two per cent, it is also the lowest figure since May.

Interacting with reporters, he also said that the severity of the pandemic has come down, but people still need to be vigilant and observe all safety norms.

"The positivity rate recorded yesterday (Tuesday) stood at 1.9 per cent. I think it is the lowest figure till date, though I will need to look into data to tell exactly. But, for sure, it is the lowest positivity rate since May. This indicates an improved COVID-19 situation in Delhi," he said.

"The positivity rate has stayed below 3 per cent since December 12, and below 5 per cent since December 3. So, it is definitely a downward trend," Jain said.

Later, he also shared on Facebook, figures on current COVID-19 situation in Delhi, and said "Delhi is aggressively tackling corona".

Asked about the availability of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients, he said on an average about 50 per cent are vacant, but in some private hospitals, the occupancy of such beds is 80-90 per cent.

Employees of water board and electricity department of the Delhi government will be included in the category of frontline staff for COVID-19 vaccination, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday.

Interacting with reporters, he said an order has been issued to add them to the list.

"DJB and electricity department employees had worked day in and day out

during the lockdown. Yesterday, the Delhi government issued an order to include them in the category of frontline staff for vaccination, so that they also get vaccine in the first phase," Jain said.

For the Delhi government, frontline workers are VIPs, he later said in a Facebook post.