By PTI
NEW DELHI: Delhi logged 10,756 Covid cases in a single day and 38 more fatalities due to the infection, while the positivity rate declined to 18.04 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department on Friday.
As many as 434 people have succumbed to the disease so far in January.
According to officials, 59,629 Covid tests were conducted on Thursday, as against 57,290 a day ago.
Delhi on Thursday reported 12,306 Covid cases and 43 fatalities, while the positivity rate was 21.48 per cent.
On Wednesday, the city had logged 35 deaths and 13,785 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 2386 per cent.
It had recorded 28,867 Covid cases last Thursday, the sharpest single-day spike since the beginning of the pandemic.
The number then declined to 24,383 on Friday, 20,718 on Saturday, 18,286 on Sunday, 12,527 on Monday, and 11,684 on Tuesday.
The positivity rate stood at 30.6 per cent on Saturday, the highest in the ongoing wave of the pandemic so far, 27.9 per cent on Sunday, 28 per cent on Monday and 22.5 per cent on Tuesday.
There are 15,557 beds for Covid patients in Delhi hospitals and 2,656 (17.07 per cent) of them are occupied.
A total of 2,656 Covid patients are in hospitals and 156 of them are on ventilator support, the health department bulletin stated.
Of the 61,954 active Covid cases in Delhi, 48,356 are recovering in home isolation, it said.
Since last week, Health Minister Satyendar Jain has been saying that hospital admissions have stabilised in the national capital and the third wave has plateaued.
The Delhi government on Thursday capped the rate of conventional RT-PCR tests in private hospitals and laboratories at Rs 300, reducing the price by 40 per cent, according to an order.
Earlier, the test used to cost Rs 500.
Rapid antigen tests at private facilities will cost Rs 100, the order stated.
Earlier, it used to cost Rs 300.
The Delhi Disaster management Authority (DDMA) on Friday allowed private offices to function with physical attendance of 50 per cent of the staff in view of the decline in COVID-19 cases but maintained that the weekend curfew and other restrictions such as the odd-even rule for opening of shops in markets will continue.
Noting that the pandemic “is under control”, the Delhi government had earlier in the day proposed lifting the weekend curfew and ending the odd-even rule for opening shops, but Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal directed that status quo be maintained on the restrictions till the situation improves further.
The LG office, however, approved the government’s proposal to allow private offices to reopen with 50 per cent of the staff.
“It has been observed that as the number of COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate are witnessing a decline, some prohibitions or restrictions may be revised in areas outside the containment zones. Therefore, all private offices shall be allowed to function with up to 50 per cent of attendance with immediate effect in Delhi (outside of containment zones),” a DDMA order said.
The DDMA, however, advised the private offices to follow the practice of work from home as far as possible and stagger the office timing to ensure social distancing at work place.
The order clarified that other prohibited and restricted activities, including weekend curfew, odd-even rule for opening of shops, no dining services at restaurants, shall remain unchanged and will be in force till further order.
Traders bodies opposed the DDMA’s decision to continue with the weekend curfew and the odd-even rule for opening of shops.
The weekend curfew is implemented at 10 pm Friday and continues till Monday 5 am.
A night curfew during weekdays is already in place from 10 pm to 5 am.
“These restrictions were imposed when cases were high. On January 12 the number of Covid cases was above 28000 and positivity rate was also around 31 per cent. But now cases are around 10,500 and positivity rate is around 17 per cent,” Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had said earlier in the day.
“Now since the cases are going down and it also seems that the peak has gone we want to ensure that the public’s livelihood continues smoothly. We have proposed to do away with weekend curfew and also with the odd-even arrangement of opening of shops in markets,” he added.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain also asserted that the danger of COVID-19 has subsided in the national capital and the situation is “quite under control”.
He also said that the virus was the primary cause of death in only three of the 43 fatalities recorded the previous day.
The daily number of Covid cases and the positivity rate have witnessed a decline in the past few days.
