Covid-19 cases in Delhi fall below 10k-mark, but tests also decline

The Covid-19 cases in Delhi fell below the 10,000-mark for the first time on Friday since April 11, aided apparently by a decline in tests by around 5,000 from the previous day.

The Friday's medical bulletin said that the national capital had 8,506 cases in the past 24 hours as against 10,489 the previous day with a positivity rate of 12.40%, the lowest since April 11 when it was 9.43%.

While the number of cases have come down, the number of tests also declined on Friday -- 68,575 as against 73,675 on Thursday, 78,035 on Wednesday and 70,276 on Tuesday.

While Delhi been conducting over 80-90,000 tests daily till April 20, it has decreased over the past three weeks. The number of tests crossed 80,000 mark only twice while the last few days has seen the number of tests between 60-80,000. Since April 1, the highest number of tests were conducted on April 11 when 1,14,288 samples were tested.

Another point of relief is that the number of deaths has fallen below 300-mark -- it was recorded at 289. Only twice since April 23, the toll had fallen below 300 mark -- the first being on May 9 when it was recorded at 273.

During a digital address, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal highlighted that the positivity rate has come down further to 12.40%. "This means that a lesser number of people are falling ill in Delhi. The number of people admitted to the hospitals has also reduced. In the past 10 days, the number of patients in hospitals of Delhi has reduced by more than 3,000 patients. Which means that 3,000 beds have become empty," he said.

He said it was "good news" that the number of daily cases fell below 10,000-mark and the capital could achieve it because of the contribution of people.

"We imposed a very strict lockdown in Delhi, but the people of Delhi offered their complete support in the same. Everyone adhered to the lockdown completely...But the battle is not won yet. The battle is yet to finish. Even now 8,500 cases have come up. This has to be reduced to zero. We have to end Covid-19 entirely,” he said.

Read | Cases down, tests on decline, deaths still on higher side: Delhi’s war against Covid-19

While he said there is no problem being faced to get beds in hospitals, he observed that the ICU beds are still full. "This means the number of serious patients has not declined much. Around 1,200 new ICU beds have been prepared and are now ready to be utilized by today or tomorrow. This will bring great relief to the people of Delhi," he added.

He also announced that the Delhi government will extend financial help to families which have lost their earning members to the pandemic. The government will also bear the cost of education and upbringing of children orphaned by the pandemic.

Read more: At 8,500, Delhi sees lowest single-day Covid-19 cases in over a month

"I know many children who have lost both their parents. I want to tell them that I am still there. Do not consider yourself an orphan. The government will take care of their studies and upbringing," he said.

"I know elderly citizens who have lost their children. They depended on their earnings. I want to tell them that their son (Kejriwal) is alive. The government will help all such families who have lost their earning members," he added.