Delhi records 576 new COVID-19 cases; positivity rate dips to 0.78%

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 576 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the cumulative tally of positive cases to 14,27,439, according to state government's health bulletin. The death toll in the national capital rose to 24,402 after 103 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the bulletin. Wednesday's numbers marks a further decline from the 623 cases recorded a day before.

The positivity rate in the national capital now stands at 0.78% - the third consecutive day that it has stayed below the 1% mark. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a positivity rate below 5% consistently for a period of at least two weeks before an outbreak can be considered to be under control. Delhi’s positivity rate has remained below the stipulated mark for 13 consecutive days now.

A total of 73,451 samples were tested for Covid-19 out of which 576 came back positive, according to the health bulletin. This was an increase from the 70,813 samples tested on Tuesday and 65,240 samples tested on Monday.

The number of fatalities, however, went up significantly on Wednesday, breaching the 100-mark after three days. At the peak of the fourth wave, Delhi reported scores of deaths everyday, witnessing the highest single-day spike on May 3, when 448 people succumbed to the disease in a span of 24 hours.

As per the health bulletin, 1,287 people have recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.The total number of active cases currently under treatment stands at 9,364, out of which 4,531 are in home isolation

Hospitalisation went down further with just 4,012 beds being currently occupied by Covid-19 patients, 20,572 beds remain vacant as of Wednesday. A similar picture emerged from dedicated Covid care centres where 6,154 beds are unoccupied.