Delhi Reports Less Than 400 Covid Cases, Positivity Rate Falls To 0.5%

Delhi today reported 381 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours - a nearly three-month low. The positivity rate, number of positive cases identified per 100, has dropped to 0.5 per cent - the lowest since March 9 when the national capital's positivity rate was at 0.48%.

Thirty four Covid patients died in the last 24 hours in Delhi, the lowest since April 8, taking the death count to 24,591.

Delhi's recovery rate now stands at 97.86 per cent as 1,189 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours. There are now 5,889 active cases of coronavirus in the capital. 76,857 samples were tested for Covid in Delhi over the last 24 hours.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a slew of relaxations on Covid curbs on Saturday, allowing the Delhi Metro to operate with 50 per cent capacity and shops in markets and malls to remain open on odd-even basis from tomorrow.

The standalone shops will be allowed to open daily from 10am to 8 pm. Home delivery through e-commerce platforms has also been okayed as the city finds its way out of the devastating second wave of coronavirus.

Private offices can be opened with 50 per cent manpower with staggered work hours. The work-from-home mode should still be used widely, the Chief Minister urged.

Gymnasiums, swimming pools, water parks, salons, educational and coaching institutes, cinema halls, theatres, weekly markets will, however, continue to remain shut.

The city recorded 414 fresh cases of coronavirus with 50 fatalities on Saturday, while the positivity rate stood at 0.53 per cent, according to the Delhi government data Saturday.

On Saturday, Arvind Kejriwal also announced a plan to ramp up medical oxygen capacity to prepare for a possible third wave that could peak at 37,000 cases a day.

Delhi, which so far has reported 14,29,244 Covid cases, is among the worst-hit states by the devastating second wave of coronavirus. The national capital reported a tidal wave of cases in the second wave as the healthcare infrastructure nearly collapsed. Families struggled to find oxygen, hospital beds and medicines for their patients. Crematoriums were overwhelmed by the large number of fatalities.