Delhi’s Covid-19 positivity rate fell for the first time in nearly four weeks on Sunday, as new infections in the city fell for a third day in a row, data released by the state government showed.

Delhi added 18,286 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, down from 20,718 the previous day and the fewest in a day since the city recorded 17,335 infections on January 7.

Another 28 people died from the infection, the data showed.

Sunday’s surge in cases came against the backdrop of more than 65,000 tests, 27.87% of which returned positive results. The number, known as the test positivity rate, fell from 30.6% on Friday and Saturday, and on a daily basis, fell for the first time since Dec. 23 last year. Since then, that number has increased or stayed the same every day.

To be sure, testing in Delhi has also dropped over the past few days, from over 105,000 on January 12 to 98,832 the next day, then 79,758 on Friday, 67,624 on Saturday and finally 65,621 on Sunday. However, state Health Minister Satyendar Jain said all those in the city who needed to be tested were being tested.

Those numbers stand even at a time when hospitalizations in the capital are still a fraction of all infections, with more than 82 percent of free beds in the city’s health facilities.

Just over 2,700 Covid-19 patients were hospitalized, with 12,788 of the city’s 15,499 hospital beds free, according to the government’s announcement on Sunday.

Of the hospitalized patients, 738 were in intensive care units, 835 required medical oxygen support, and 123 of them were on ventilators.

Most hospitalized Covid-19 patients are either unvaccinated or have comorbidities, Jain said.

“Trends show that the number of cases in Delhi is decreasing, but the government is still monitoring Covid cases closely and it will take some time to understand this trend. Most people infected with Covid-19 and admitted to hospital are either unvaccinated or have comorbidities, Jain said at a media briefing.

Complete News Source : Hindustan Times