The positivity rate of Covid-19 in Delhi declined for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday.

From 30% on May 3, it dipped to 27% on May 4, 26% on May 5 and 24% on May 6. In April third week, Delhi’s positivity rate—number of positive cases from those tested—had touched 36%, which was among the highest in the country. The numbers of new cases and deaths have also reduced significantly raising hopes of improvement in the outbreak situation.

On Thursday, the city recorded 19,133 new cases from 78,780 tests conducted in 24 hours. This is the third time in the last four days that the number of new cases remained below 20,000. Earlier, on May 3 and May 4, the city had recorded 18,043 and 19,953 new cases, respectively.


“There are signs of improvement. But we cannot be complacent yet. A positivity rate of 24% is still very high. We still have a huge rush of patients in hospitals and most of the ICU beds are running full,” said a senior health official.


There are a total of 22,057 Covid beds in the city, of which 20,274 are occupied. The total number of ICU beds is 5,569, of which 5,545 are occupied. ICU bed with ventilator support is available in only one hospital in Karo Bagh. “My friend needs an ICU bed urgently. I have been calling on all numbers and helplines. But no hospital is willing to admit. Where are the vacant beds?” Nikhil Kumar, a resident of Malviya Nagar, asked. He added that most of the beds that are available do not even have high flow oxygen and other facilities needed for critical care management.
On the brighter side, the recovery rate has picked up. In the last one week, nearly 1.5 lakh people have recovered from the infection.

“The lockdown has really helped reduce the spread of the disease. It should continue for a few more days to gain complete control over the disease and expand the health infrastructure to cope up with the patient rush,” the official said.