Delhi records seven Covid deaths, highest so far in 2023, adds 1,040 fresh cases

New Delhi: Delhi on Wednesday recorded seven fatalities, the most so far this year, and documented 1,040 new COVID-19 cases with a positive rate of 21.16 per cent, according to data shared by the city government’s Health department. The addition of the fresh cases takes the national capital’s overall infection tally to 20,36,196 while the death toll has risen to 26,613. In three of the seven fatalities, Covid was not the primary reason of death while the finding of infection was incidental in two. Complete case sheets of the two other fatalities are awaited from hospitals, the department said. The number of active cases in the national capital stands at 4,708. Of the total, 3,384 patients are in home isolation, it said. The fresh cases emerged from 4,915 tests, including 3,741 RT-PCR/CBNAAT/True Nat tests, conducted the previous day, the bulletin said. Only 305 of the 7,977 Covid beds in the national capital are occupied at present, the data showed. Delhi on Tuesday reported 1,095 fresh cases and six fatalities while the positivity rate was recorded at 22.74, On Monday, the national capital logged 689 infections and three fatalities with a case positivity of 29.42 per cent. The city witnessed 948 cases and two fatalities with a positivity rate of 25.69 on Sunday. It logged 1,515 cases and six fatalities with a case positivity rate of 26.46 on Saturday. The Health department did not issue a bulletin on Friday. The city recorded three fatalities and 1,603 fresh caseload additions on Thursday with a positivity rate of 26.75. On April 19, it reported six deaths along with 1,757 new cases with a positivity rate of 28.63. The national capital recorded 1,537 cases on April 18 with the positivity at 26.54 per cent. On April 17, Delhi recorded 1,017 cases and a positivity rate of 32.25 – the highest in more than 15 months. The national capital recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 on 14 January last year. The number of COVID-19 cases had dropped to zero on January 16 for the first time since the outbreak of the pandemic. However, the city has witnessed a spurt in fresh cases over the past month. On April 11, mock drills were conducted in Delhi hospitals to ascertain their preparedness to tackle COVID-19. Medical experts have said the Omicron sub-variant XBB.1.16 could be driving the surge in cases in the city. However, they have maintained that there is no need to panic and people should follow Covid-appropriate behaviour and get their booster shots. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.