Delhi’s Covid positivity rate jumps to 13.84% as capital reports 2,311 new cases

Delhi has reported 2,311 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the health department said on Saturday. With this, the Covid positivity rate in the national capital has climbed to 13.84%. The capital also reported one death and 1,837 recoveries in past 24 hours.

It is the fourth consecutive day that the daily count of COVID-19 cases crossed the 2,000-mark. Delhi on Friday recorded 2,419 Covid cases, with a positivity rate of 12.95 per cent.

Moreover, amid a rise in Covid cases in some parts of the country, the Centre has asked Delhi and six states to ensure adequate testing, promote Covid-appropriate behaviour and increase the pace of vaccination to contain the surge.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written a letter to Delhi, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and said that the upcoming festivals and mass congregations in different parts of the country may potentially facilitate the transmission of infectious diseases, including COVID-19.

In his letter to Delhi, Bhushan said the national capital has been reporting high average daily new cases (811 cases) for the past month with a high of 2.202 new cases reported on August 5.

Delhi has contributed 8.2 per cent of India's weekly new cases in the week ending August 5 and has also recorded 1.86 times increase in average daily new cases from 802 in the week ending July 29 to 1,492 in the week ending August 5.

An increase in the weekly positivity rate was also reported in Delhi -- from 5.90 per cent in the week ending July 29 to 9.86 per cent in the week ending August 5.

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