With fewer tests conducted on Sunday, Delhi’s positivity rate – the proportion of samples tested that return positive – shot up to 17.85% as per Monday’s daily health bulletin, which records cases from the previous 24 hours. There were 1,372 fresh cases of the infection reported on Monday, which – owing to fewer tests – is less than the average 2,285 cases recorded over the five previous days.
The Centre this week wrote to seven states, including Delhi, to ramp up testing, surveillance, reporting of influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection cases, and vaccination, especially in view of the ongoing and upcoming yatras and festivities.
The national capital also recorded six deaths with the infection on Monday, which is the highest since June 25, when six deaths had been recorded. City doctors have said that the deaths are happening in those who are co-morbid or have been admitted to hospitals for treatment of other ailments with the finding of Covid-19 being incidental.
Twenty-five deaths have been recorded in the first eight days of August. Fifty deaths each were recorded in the months of June and July.
With fewer cases reported on Monday, the number of active cases went down slightly to 7,484 as compared to 8,045 the day before. The number of hospitalisations have remained at over 400 for four days in a row.
