Delhi Records 1,094 New Covid-19 Cases, 2 Deaths

Delhi on Saturday witnessed a slight increase in daily Covid-19 cases as it reported 1,094 new infections and two deaths. The positivity rate also rose to 4.82.

On Friday, the national capital had reported 1,042 Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 4.64. Two deaths were also reported.

With Saturday's numbers, Delhi's Covid-19 tally rose to at 18,73,793 and the death toll reached 26,166. 

Delhi has seen a surge in infections and positivity rate in recent weeks. The active Covid-19 cases in Delhi increased to 3,705 from 601 on April 11.

However, the hospitalisation rate has so far been low, accounting for less than 3 per cent of the total active cases. There are 79 Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Delhi at present, while 2,532 are recuperating in home-isolation. Of the 9,489 beds available for Covid-19 patients in various hospitals, just 101 (1.06 per cent) are occupied, as per the data.

In the wake of rising cases, the Delhi government on Friday issued an order directing authorities to impose a fine of Rs 500 on people not wearing masks at public places. The fine will not apply to people travelling together in private four-wheelers.

The government had lifted the fine for not wearing masks on April 12 because of a decline in the number of daily cases.

The decision to bring back the mask mandate at public places and impose the fine on violators came at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which devises Covid management policies for the national capital.

The city health department said that from Thursday, Delhi has started providing free COVID-19 precautionary doses to beneficiaries in the 18-59 age group at government vaccination centres.

Delhi has also started genome sequencing of samples of all Covid-infected people to ascertain if a new variant, such as the XE, has spread in the city.

With PTI inputs