COVID: Delhi records 311 deaths, over 20,000 cases

Delhi recorded 311 COVID-19 deaths and 20,960 cases in a day with a positivity rate of 26.37 per cent, according to a bulletin issued by the city health department on Wednesday afternoon.

This is the fourth consecutive day that the positivity rate has remained below 30 per cent in the national capital.

In a statement, the Delhi government said all-round efforts and aggressive COVID management have resulted in a dramatic decrease in the city's COVID positivity rate.

"Within just 10 days, Delhi's COVID positivity rate has reduced by nine per cent. On April 26, Delhi reported a positivity rate of 35 per cent and on May 5, it came down to around 26 per cent," it said.

According to government data, the capital registered a positivity rate of 26.73 per cent on Tuesday, 29.56 per cent on Monday, 28.33 per cent on Sunday, 31.6 per cent on Saturday, 32.7 per cent on Friday, 32.8 per cent last Thursday, 31.8 per cent last Wednesday, 32.7 per cent last Tuesday and 35 per cent last Monday.

On April 22, a positivity rate of 36.2 per cent, the highest so far, was recorded.

The data showed that Delhi conducted around 57,690 tests and around 20,201 people tested positive for the infection. On Tuesday, the city conducted around 74,654 tests and 19,953 people tested positive.

"From this drop in the positivity rate, it can be concluded that in Delhi, during the last 10 days, the case positivity rate of COVID-19 has dropped by approximately one per cent each day. During these days, the Delhi government has not only ramped up testing, but also worked relentlessly in increasing the number of beds across the city. The government is also giving an aggressive push to the vaccination drive, which will further help bring down the positivity rate in the coming days," the statement said.

Delhi reported 19,953 cases on Tuesday, 18,043 on Monday, the lowest since April 15, 20,394 on Sunday, 25,219 on Saturday, 27,047 on Friday, 24,235 last Thursday, 25,986 last Wednesday, 24,149 last Tuesday, 20,201 last Monday and 22,933 last Sunday.

The city witnessed 338 deaths due to the viral disease on Tuesday, 448 on Monday, the highest so far, 407 on Sunday, 412 on Saturday, 375 on Friday, 395 last Thursday, 368 last Wednesday, 381 last Tuesday, 380 last Monday, 350 last Sunday and 357 last Saturday.

The city has so far recorded 12,53,902 COVID-19 cases, of which over 11.43 lakh have recovered. The death toll due to the disease stands at 18,063, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases in the city is 91,859, it added.

Of the 21,528 COVID beds in various city hospitals, only 1,518 are vacant, the bulletin said, adding that over 90,000 beneficiaries were vaccinated against the disease in the last 24 hours, .

The number of containment zones in the national capital stands at 47,704.