Delhi records 425 fresh coronavirus cases; positivity rate at 0.61%

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New Delhi: Delhi recorded 425 new COVID-19 cases on March 16 as its positivity rate rose to 0.61%, according to data shared by the health department.

The death toll climbed to 10,945 with one more fatality, according to the latest bulletin issued by the health department.

The new coronavirus cases recorded on March 16 took the infection tally to 6,44,489, the bulletin said.

On Sunday, the daily case tally had crossed the 400-mark for the fourth consecutive day. However, on March 15, it had dropped to 368 with a positivity rate of 0.59%.

On March 16, the daily cases count rose again to 425, while the positivity rate increased slightly to 0.61%. Delhi on Saturday had recorded 419 COVID-19 cases, with a positivity rate of 0.56%, while 407 cases were reported on March 14 and the positivity rate was 0.60%.

On March 12, 431 cases were recorded, the highest in over two months, and the count on March 11 was 409. A total of 585 cases were reported on January 1 and 424 on January 3. The daily count had dropped to 306 on January 11 and risen again to 386 on January 12, according to official figures.

The numbers had started to come down in February. On February 26, the month’s highest daily count of 256 cases was recorded.

The number of active cases of the disease in the city rose to 2,488 on March 16 from 2,321 on March 15.

Health experts and doctors have attributed this “sudden rise” in cases to people becoming complacent, not following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour and “assuming all is well now”.

The total number of tests conducted on Sunday stood at 70,049, including 39,425 RT-PCR tests and 30,624 rapid antigen tests, the bulletin said.

The number of people under home isolation on March 16 rose to 1,401 from 1,342 on March 15, it said, adding that over 6.31 lakh people have recovered from the infection till date.