Covid-19: Record 85,000 tests, positivity rate 4.8% in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 4,067 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, taking the infection tally to 5.86 lakh. The toll rose to 9,497 with 73 more deaths.
A record 85,003 tests, including 40,191 RT-PCR tests, were conducted in the last 24 hours, the health department said.
Delhi's positivity rate continued to be below five per cent for the third consecutive day with only 4.78% of the total number of people who were tested for Covid-19 being diagnosed with the viral infection.On Wednesday and Thursday, the positivity rate was recorded at 5% and 4.9% respectively, indicating an ebbing of the third wave of the pandemic.
The city currently has 28,252 active cases with the recovery rate being higher than the infection. Delhi has reported 5.86 lakh cases, out of which 5.48 lakh people have recovered while 9,497 patients have died. The cumulative positivity rate stands at 8.9% while the same rate for fatality is 1.6%.
Delhi, which saw a surge in Covid cases last month, is conducting a sizeable number of tests daily for early detection.
"This has been key to controlling Covid because more tests lead to the screening of more and more individuals and, thus, detection of infection," said an official. "The early detection of infection leads to immediate treatment and contact tracing and isolation, which, in turn, checks further spread of the virus," he added.
In recent months, Delhi government has increased the number of RTPCR tests from 10,000 to 15,000 to 30,000 to 36,000 as it is more accurate and, hence, more reliable than rapid antigen tests. OVer 65 lakh tests have been conducted till now.