Delhi reports 1,094 fresh COVID-19 cases, two fatalities

New Delhi: Delhi reported 1,094 fresh COVID-19 infections and two deaths due to the disease on Saturday as the positivity rate rose to 4.82 per cent, according to data shared by the health department.

A total of 22,614 Covid tests were conducted in the city a day ago, the data showed. The COVID-19 infection tally in the national capital now stands at 18,73,793 and the death toll at 26,166.

Delhi had logged 1,042 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 4.64 per cent and two fatalities due to the infection on Friday.

On Thursday, the city reported 965 COVID-19 cases and a single fatality with a positivity rate of 4.71 per cent.

With the national capital witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases in the past few days, the number of active cases of the disease in the city has now increased to 3,705 from 601 on April 11.

However, the hospitalisation rate has so far been low, accounting for less than three per cent of the total active cases, according to the data.

There are 79 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Delhi at present, while 2,532 are recuperating in home-isolation.

Of the 9,489 beds available for Covid patients in various hospitals, just 101 (1.06 per cent) are occupied, as per the data.

In the wake of rising cases, the Delhi government on Friday issued an order directing authorities to impose a fine of Rs 500 on people not wearing masks at public places.

The fine will not apply to people travelling together in private four-wheelers, it said.

The government had lifted the fine for not wearing masks on April 12 because of a decline in the number of daily cases.

The decision to bring back the mask mandate at public places and impose the fine on violators came at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which devises Covid management policies for the national capital.

The city health department said that from Thursday, Delhi has started providing free COVID-19 precautionary doses to beneficiaries in the 18-59 age group at government vaccination centres.

Delhi has also started genome sequencing of samples of all Covid-infected people to ascertain if a new variant, such as the XE, has spread in the city. (PTI)