Delhi records 544 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths; positivity rate at 3.37%

Delhi on Saturday recorded 544 fresh COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.37 per cent, as two more people succumbed to the virus, according to health department data.

This is the third consecutive day when the daily case count has remained in the range of 500-600. Delhi on Friday had recorded 531 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 3.13 per cent, and three fatalities.

With the fresh infections and fatalities, Delhi's caseload climbed to 19,40,302 and the death toll increased to 26,282, the health department bulletin said.

The fresh cases came out of 16,158 tests conducted the previous day, it said.

Delhi had on Thursday recorded 579 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.46 per cent and one death. On Wednesday, the city had logged 600 COVID-19 cases with a positivity rate of 3.27 per cent and one death.

The capital had recorded 615 cases with a positivity rate of 3.89 per cent and three deaths on Tuesday.

Of the 9,469 beds for COVID-19 patients in Delhi hospitals, only 151 were occupied on Saturday. Beds at Covid care centres and Covid health centres are lying vacant, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases in Delhi stands at 2,264, down from 2,329 the previous day. As many as 1,595 patients are under home isolation, it said.

There are 316 containment zones in the capital, it added.

The national capital has reported a few cases of the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of Omicron, which are highly transmissible, but experts have asked people not to panic as these sub-variants do not cause severe infection.

The number of daily Covid cases in Delhi touched the record high of 28,867 on January 13 during the third wave of the pandemic. The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the third wave of the pandemic.