Delhi's COVID-19 recovery rate at 88 per cent; only 9 per cent still infected: Arvind Kejriwal

There is a significant improvement in the COVID-19 situation in the national capital with the recovery rate standing at 88 and only 9% are still infected, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.

"There is an improvement in the COVID situation in Delhi. The Delhi model is being discussed in India and abroad. Today the recovery rate in Delhi is 88%, only 9% of the people are ill now and 2-3% of the people have died. There is a decline in the number of deaths as well," the Chief Minister said at a press conference here.

He also said that a sharp decline had been noticed in the COVID related deaths in Delhi and there was also a slump in the number of new positive cases being found.

"Yesterday 21 people lost their lives due to coronavirus. In June, the per day deaths used to be around the 100 mark. Earlier, for every 100 people tested 35 used to test positive for the disease, today that number is around five positive cases per 100 people tested, which is called the positivity ratio," he said.

The Delhi Chief Minister said that currently there are 15,500 beds for COVID-19 patients in the national capital while there are just 2,800 patients admitted, meaning there are close to 12,500 beds lying vacant in the Union Territory (UT).

He, however, appealed to the people to continue using masks and also abide by other safety guidelines for prevention.

"There was no need to impose the second lockdown in Delhi, unlike the condition in other states where two-days, three-day lockdown have been put in place. This is a matter of satisfaction," Kejriwal said.

He added that the next step forward was providing jobs back to the people and rebuild the economy and urged businessmen, government agencies, NGOs to bring Delhi back on track and also pleaded to the migrants who had gone back to their native places during the peak of the crisis to return to the national capital.