Covid-19: 3,846 new cases, 235 deaths in Delhi; positivity rate drops to 5.78 pc

New Delhi, May 19

The National Capital on Wednesday reported 3,846 cases, the lowest since April 5, and 235 fatalities while the positivity rate dipped to 5.78 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin released by the Delhi government.

This is the third day on the trot that the number of cases has remained below 5,000.

The Covid-19 situation has been improving in Delhi with the number of cases and positivity rate going down steadily in the past few days. Medical experts have attributed the lockdown as the main factor behind the dip amid the second wave of the pandemic.

Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the situation in Delhi is improving at an appreciable rate, but "our target should be to bring down the positivity rate to two percent". 

At 5.78 percent, the positivity rate is the lowest since April 6 when it stood at 4.9 percent. The number of new infections is the lowest since April 5 when 3,548 people were diagnosed with the disease, according to government data. 

However, the lesser number of fresh cases on Monday came from a relatively smaller number of tests—66573—conducted on Tuesday.  

Delhi had reported 4,482 cases on Tuesday, 4,524 on Monday, 6,456 on Sunday, 6,430 on Saturday, 8,506 on Friday, 10,489 on Thursday and 13,287 cases last Wednesday.

The positivity rate was 6.89 per cent on Tuesday, 8.42 on Monday, 10.40 on Sunday, 11.32 on Saturday, 12.4 on Friday, 14.24 on Thursday and 17 per cent last Wednesday.

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

The national capital had 265 deaths on Tuesday, 340 on Monday, 262 on Sunday, 337 on Saturday, 289 on Friday, 308 on Thursday and 300 fatalities last Wednesday.

The highest number of 448 deaths was reported on May 3. As many as 9,427 people recovered from the infection during the period, the health bulletin said.

There are 45,047 active cases and 27,112 of them are in home isolation, it said.

The number of cumulative cases stands at 14,06,719 and the death toll at 22,346.

Over 13.39 lakh people have either recovered, migrated out or have been discharged, according to the health bulletin.

Of the 24,289 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, 10,921 are vacant, it said. — PTI