81 new Covid-19 cases; 3 more deaths in Delhi

New Delhi, July 9

The National Capital recorded 81 fresh Covid-19 cases, and three deaths due to the disease on Friday, according to data shared by the health department here.

The positivity rate slightly dropped to 0.11 per cent from 0.12 per cent on Thursday, when 93 cases and three deaths were recorded.

The three new fatalities have pushed the death toll in the city to 25,011, according to the latest bulletin.

On Tuesday, Delhi had reported 79 cases and four deaths. And on Wednesday, 93 cases and four deaths were recorded, according to official figures.

On February 16, ninety-four people were diagnosed Covid positive, while the daily tally was 96 on January 27, according to official figures.

The infection rate, which had reached TO 36 per cent in the last week of April, has come down to below 0.15 per cent now.

Meanwhile, to deal with a possible third wave of coronavirus, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) passed a colour-coded response action plan on Friday under which curbs will be implemented in accordance to the severity of the Covid-19 situation here.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday had inaugurated a genome-sequencing laboratory at the ILBS hospital here and said the people of Delhi will highly benefit from this facility.

This is the second such laboratory in Delhi, and a much advanced one than inaugurated by Kejriwal on Tuesday at LNJP Hospital here. He had said that it will detect the lethality of the coronavirus variants and help the government prepare accordingly.

Despite fall in daily cases in the last several days, Kejriwal had recently cautioned that the chances of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic were quite real, while he asserted that his government was preparing on a "war-footing" to combat it.

Delhi had been reeling under a brutal second wave of the pandemic that is sweeping the country, claiming a massive number of lives daily, with the recent oxygen supply shortage issue at various hospitals, adding to the woes.

Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day deaths count had been spiralling up, with over 28,000 cases and 277 deaths recorded on April 20; rising to 306 fatalities on April 22. On May 3, the city registered a record 448 deaths, as per the official data.

However, the number of cases have shown a downward trend and the positivity rate too has been shrinking in the last several days. The number of deaths per day, has also been showing a decline in the last couple of days.

On May 15, Kejriwal had said, "The virus is reducing in Delhi slowly and steadily, and I hope it diminishes completely and does not rise again. However, we are not going to become negligent in any way", while sounding a tone of caution.

The Delhi government had earlier announced reopening of restaurants with 50 per cent capacity and one weekly market per municipal zone from June 14.

With close gathering of shoppers in markets and restaurants resuming business amid phased unlock in the national capital, doctors have cautioned that Delhi could face a "worse than second wave situation" of Covid-19 if people do not adhere to safety norms or lower their guards.

A total of 73,192 tests, including 48,500 RT-PCR tests and 24,692 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, according to the health bulletin on Friday.

The number of cumulative cases on Friday stood at 14,34,954. Over 14 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.

The number of active cases decreased to 798 on Friday from 847 a day before, according to the bulletin.

The number of people under home isolation decreased to 257 from 260 on Thursday, while the number of containment zones dropped to 604 from 628 a day before, it said. — PTI