COVID-19: Delhi records 5,062 new cases, death toll climbs to 6,511; positivity rate 11.42 per cent

The national capital recorded 5,062 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the infection tally to over 3.86 lakh, even as the positivity rate jumped to nearly 11.5 per cent amid festivities and rising pollution in the city.

These fresh cases came out of the 44,330 tests conducted the previous day which also coincided with a festival.

This is the fourth consecutive day when over 5,000 cases have been reported in a day in the city.

The highest single-day spike till date -- 5,891 cases -- was recorded on Friday.

On Saturday, 41 new fatalities were recorded, pushing the death toll in the national capital to 6,511, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi health department.

The tally of active cases on Saturday rose to 32,719 from 32,363 the previous day, as per the bulletin.

The bulletin said the total number of cases has climbed to 3,86,706 and the positivity rate stood at 11.42 per cent.

After a long time, the positivity rate here has crossed the 10 per cent-mark.

Meanwhile, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Saturday said it is "impossible to wipe off" COVID-19 transmission through a lockdown as the virus has "spread through the community" and people should treat wearing a face mask as a vaccine till the real medication is made available.

The number of containment zones in Delhi increased to 3,274 from 3,113 on Friday.

The sudden spike in cases comes amid the festive season and rising pollution levels. While Durga Puja celebrations ended on October 25, the next festival is Diwali and Chhath in November.

National Centre for Disease Control in a report drafted recently had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 per day taking into account the upcoming winter season-related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.

Meanwhile, Delhi health secretary held a review meeting with all medical directors and medical superintendents on COVID-19 management, the bulletin said.

The recovery rate on Saturday was over 89 per cent, it said.

According to the Saturday bulletin, out of the total number of 15,764 beds in COVID hospitals, 9,505 are vacant.

It said 462 beds in COVID care centres are occupied by persons under quarantine, including travellers who have returned by Vande Bharat Mission and bubble flights.

Jain told reporters that out of 2,900 ICU beds, 1,200 are available.

Asked about a report over occupancy norms for DTC buses, he said only as many passengers are allowed as there are seats.

Delhi government has significantly ramped up testing in the past few days, with the count on several times crossing the 60,000-mark.

The number of Rapid Antigen Tests conducted on Friday stood at 28,906 while the RT-PCR, CBNAAT and True NAAT tests figures were 15,424, in all adding to 44,330, according to the bulletin.

The number of tests done per million, as on Friday, was over 2.46 lakh while the total number of tests stood at over 46.8 lakh.

The bulletin said 3,47,476 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far.

Since September, daily cases had begun to rise in the city. From the last week of September, it had stated to come down a bit.

The number of people in home isolation rose to 20,093 compared to 19,064 the previous day.