Delhi records 39 new COVID-19 cases, no fresh death

New Delhi, Sep 2 (PTI) No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Thursday for the second consecutive day, while 39 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.06 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.

This is the 21st time since the start of the second Covid wave in the national capital that zero fatality has been logged in a day.

On July 18, July 24, July 29, August 2, August 4, August 8, August 11, August 12, August 13, August 16, August 20, August 21, August 22, August 23 and August 24, August 26, August 27, August 28 and August 29 and September 1 too, no daily deaths due to COVID-19 was recorded, the data said.

On March 2 this year, the national capital had reported zero death due to the virus. On that day, the number of single-day infections stood at 217 and the positivity rate was 0.33 per cent.

The death toll due to the coronavirus infection in Delhi stood at 25,082 on Tuesday.

The second wave swept the city during April-May period.

On Wednesday, 36 fresh cases were recorded with a positivity rate stood at 0.06 per cent, while no death was reported due to the infection.

Daily cases count had dropped to 20 on August 30, when one death was recorded, according to official figures.

On Tuesday, 28 cases with a positivity rate of 0.05 per cent were recorded, and one fatality was reported.

Despite the fall in daily cases in the last several days, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had cautioned that the chances of a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic were quite real, while he asserted that his government was preparing on a "war-footing" to combat it.

Delhi had been reeling under a brutal second wave of the pandemic that is sweeping the country, claiming a massive number of lives daily, and the oxygen supply shortage issue at various hospitals had added to the woes.

Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day death counts had been spiralling up, with over 28,000 cases and 277 deaths recorded on April 20; rising to 306 fatalities on April 22. On May 3, the city registered a record 448 deaths, according to the official data.

However, the number of cases have shown a downward trend and the positivity rate too has been shrinking in the last several weeks. The number of deaths per day has also been showing a decline in the last several days.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had last week said that medical infrastructure was being ramped up and 37,000 beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients were being set up to tackle the anticipated third wave of the pandemic in the national capital.

A total of 60,483 tests, including 42,669 RT-PCR tests and 17,814 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, according to the health bulletin issued on Thursday.

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