The national capital recorded 6,608 new COVID-19 cases and 118 new deaths on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 5,17,238 and total deaths to 8,159.
The health bulletin released by the Delhi government said that 62,425 tests were conducted over the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 10.59%. Of the total tests, 23,507 were RT-PCR tests and 38,918 were rapid antigen. It added that 8,775 people have recovered, taking the total recoveries to 4,68,143. There are currently 40,936 active cases in the city.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that gradual reduction in the number of new COVID-19 cases and the positivity rate is a “clear indicator” that the spread of the virus is decreasing in the Capital. “The positivity rate was 15.26% on November 7. It is less than 11% now. The maximum number of cases [8,593] were reported on November 10,” Mr. Jain said.
He announced that government rates would apply for the normal, non-ICU beds reserved in private hospitals by the Delhi government for COVID-19 patients and that additional 2,644 normal beds and 260 ICU beds have been made available for COVID-19 patients after the government issued directions on Thursday to reserve 80% ICU beds in private hospitals and increase the percentage of non-ICU COVID-19 beds to 60%.
A day after the government announced an increase in the fine for not wearing a mask to ₹2,000, Mr. Jain asked people to not step out of their houses without a mask.
Out of a total of 17,083 beds in the city, the bulletin said, 7,592 were vacant, adding that 24,042 people are under home quarantine.
The number of containment zones in Delhi now stands at 4,560.
