With only 648 new Covid-19 cases reported on Monday, Delhi’s positivity rate fell below 1% for the first time in 74 days, as the city continued to recover from a devastating wave of infections in April and May.
On Monday, the positivity rate was 0.99 percent, down from 1.25 percent the day before, despite a drop in the number of tests over the weekend.
According to the state health bulletin issued on Monday, the city conducted 65,240 tests, down from 75,440 on Sunday.
The test positivity rate is an important metric, according to experts, because it indicates how widespread the virus is in the community. When the positivity rate drops along with fewer new cases, it indicates that the virus’s spread is slowing.
Before an outbreak can be considered under control, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a positivity rate of at least 5% for at least two weeks. This number has been below the threshold in Delhi for 11 days.
Between the end of December and the beginning of April, Delhi had a positivity rate of less than 5% for 124 days in a row. According to data provided by the Delhi government, the positivity rate remained below 1% for 82 consecutive days during this time period.
On April 22, when the fourth wave of cases peaked, the positivity rate had risen to over 36%.
The city also reported 86 deaths as a result of the infection, with no more than 100 deaths for two days in a row. Over 400 people died of Covid-19 on three consecutive days as the fourth wave swept through the city, overwhelming health-care systems, with 448 dying on May 3 — the city’s highest single-day death toll.
Another encouraging sign for the city’s fight against Covid-19 came on Monday, when the number of hospitalizations fell below 5,000 for the first time in 53 days since April began. According to the government’s Delhi Corona app, only 17 percent of the total beds earmarked for Covid-19 treatment in Delhi were occupied as of Monday evening, and nearly 40% of the ICU beds were occupied. There were days when there were no ICU beds available in the city at its peak.
Dr Rajesh Chawla, senior pulmonologist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital, said, “We are 15 to 20 consultants in the department, but we are not seeing any new cases. In the last five days, I have seen only one Covid-19 case and the patient was not from Delhi. It looks like the majority of the people have had the infection and it is unlikely to surge for now. The picture will become clear in the first 10 days after the lockdown is lifted.”
