Delhi logs 12,481 Covid-19 cases, 347 deaths in a day, positivity rate dips further to 17.76%

The national capital on Tuesday registered 12,481 new coronavirus cases and 347 deaths in a span of 24 hours as Delhi continues to remain under a Covid-19 lockdown till 5 am on 17 May.

COVID in Delhi:

The positivity rate in the city also dropped from 19% to 17.76%, the health department said today.

The positivity rate in the capital has remained above the 20% mark since 17 April. On 22 April, a positivity rate of 36.2%, the highest so far, was reported.

"In the last few days, the positivity rate has declined from 36% to 19.1% with the caseload also going down from 28,000 per day to about 12,500. Till we reach positivity rate at below 5% and caseload below 3000-4000 cases, we can't be at ease," Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said.

Delhi now has 83,809 active Covid-19 cases. In addition, 13,583 recoveries were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the numbered of recovered cases to 12,44,880.

Delhi health min warns of 2nd Covid wave

Jain also warned that the second wave of Covid-19 is still very much there and about 80,000 tests are being conducted each day.

When asked why testing numbers had reduced over the last few days, he said that due to the coronavirus lockdown, people aren't coming out as they did before.

"The wave is very much there, but seemingly its peak is gradually declining since April end. Every day about 80,000 tests being done. Due to lockdown, people aren't coming out, while earlier people were going out with everybody being tested," Jain added.

The Delhi health minister further informed that the demand for oxygen remains high although beds are less, they are available.

"We have about 23,000 beds of which 20,000 are occupied, It's a huge number. Oxygen supply should continue otherwise it will be problematic. We are getting a little less than the requirement of 700 tonnes LMO," he stated.

Earlier today, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to share the vaccine formulas and allow more firms to manufacture doses - of which there is an acute shortage as the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech scramble to match demand.

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