As many as 1,093 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Delhi in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 1,34,403, according to a health bulletin released by the Delhi government on Thursday.
Also, 29 more deaths have been reported, taking the tally to 3,936. Of the total cases, 1,19,724 people have recovered and there are 10,743 active cases.
Downward trend
Since the daily count touched almost 4,000 – highest so far – on June 23, the number of new cases has been dropping and it has been less than 1,500 for the past 14 consecutive days.
Active cases have decreased by 60.2%, from 27,007 on July 1 to 10,743 on Thursday. Of the total 19,475 tests done in the past 24 hours, 71.5% were rapid antigen tests, which have shown a low positivity in the city compared to RT PCR tests.
The number of people admitted to COVID-19 hospitals has been dipping. On July 1, a total of 5,892 beds in COVID-19 hospitals were occupied and it has decreased to 2,950 on Thursday. In the same period, the number of COVID-19 positive people in home isolation has come down from 16,703 to 5,873.
Also, the positivity rate, which is the percentage of people who test positive, has dropped from 12.2% to 5.6%. There are 694 containment zones now.
Government order
Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Thursday issued an order to form four committees to inspect 11 COVID-19 hospitals and give hospital-wise recommendations on following standard operating procedures and protocols. The committees will also examine the reasons behind the COVID-19 deaths in the hospitals.
“It has been observed that the percentage of COVID-19 deaths vis-a-vis admissions and the percentage of COVID-19 deaths in wards in 11 hospitals is on the higher side from July 1 to July 23,” the order said.
Following a High Court order, the Delhi government decided not to test people admitted with severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) using rapid antigen tests.
“In pursuance of orders of Hon’ble High Court of Delhi... the orders issued [on July 5 and July 9] regarding testing strategies to be followed in NCT of Delhi for COVID-19, using Rapid Antigen Detection test are hereby amended by deleting. All patients admitted with SARI from the list of high-risk group of individuals, who are compulsorily required to be tested for COVID-19 using rapid antigen Detection test with immediate effect,” an order issued by the Delhi government on Thursday read
The rapid antigen test has a high rate of false negative results compared to RT PCR test, which is considered to be the gold standard for COVID-19 tests.
Dr. Nivedita Gupta, Scientist, ICMR confirms the said position and states that RAT is not required to be conducted on patients suffering from SARI and they are to be tested directly through RT PCR.
“Delhi government is directed to amend the orders dated 05.07.2020 and 09.07.2020 forthwith by deleting any reference to the patients admitted with SARI, requiring them to undergo the RAT,” the High Court had said in an order on July 27.
