NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 238 new Covid-19 cases, the lowest in nearly three months, and 24 fatalities on Friday, while the positivity rate dipped to 0.31%.
According to the latest health bulletin, these new fatalities pushed the death toll from Covid-19 to 24,772.
On Thursday, the city had recorded 305 new cases with a positivity rate of 0.41% and 45 deaths.
On March 8, Delhi had recorded 239 cases and on March 9, the tally was 320, according to official data.
The national capital started the unlocking process from Monday after remaining under lockdown since April 19, in view of a massive surge in Covid-19 cases during the second wave of the pandemic.
Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day death count had been spiralling up.
On April 20, the city had reported 28,395 cases, the highest in Delhi since the beginning of the pandemic.
On April 22, the case positivity rate was 36.2%, the highest so far.
The highest number of 448 deaths was reported on May 3.
However, the number of cases has shown a downward trend of late.
The positivity rate too has been shrinking in the last several days.
In the last 24 hours, a total of 77,112 tests, including 56,000 RT-PCR tests, were conducted, according to the health bulletin on Friday.
The total number of cases reported in the city so far stood at 14,30,671, while over 14 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.
The city now has 3,922 active cases, the bulletin said.
The number of people under home isolation is 1,236, it added.
“The number of new cases has come down, which is good.
But we cannot let our guards down yet.
In fact, there is a need to emphasise on strict adherence to the preventive measures, most importantly wearing a mask, to avoid resurgence of the infection,” doctors say.
The easing of lockdown restrictions in Delhi has brought the much needed-relief for businesses, with public movement also increasing.
However, the doctors said it is important to spread awareness about the importance of continuing to follow Covid appropriate behaviour – for example, wearing a mask in public places and maintaining social distance – to prevent another peak in Covid cases and the repercussions thereof.