Delhi on Saturday witnessed a slight increase in daily Covid-19 cases as it reported 1,094 new infections and two deaths. The positivity rate also rose to 4.82.
On Friday, the national capital had reported 1,042 Covid-19 cases with a positivity rate of 4.64. Two deaths were also reported.
With Saturday's numbers, Delhi's Covid-19 tally rose to at 18,73,793 and the death toll reached 26,166.
Delhi has seen a surge in infections and positivity rate in recent weeks. The active Covid-19 cases in Delhi increased to 3,705 from 601 on April 11.
However, the hospitalisation rate has so far been low, accounting for less than 3 per cent of the total active cases. There are 79 Covid-19 patients admitted to hospitals in Delhi at present, while 2,532 are recuperating in home-isolation. Of the 9,489 beds available for Covid-19 patients in various hospitals, just 101 (1.06 per cent) are occupied, as per the data.
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In the wake of rising cases, the Delhi government on Friday issued an order directing authorities to impose a fine of Rs 500 on people not wearing masks at public places. The fine will not apply to people travelling together in private four-wheelers.
The government had lifted the fine for not wearing masks on April 12 because of a decline in the number of daily cases.
The decision to bring back the mask mandate at public places and impose the fine on violators came at a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which devises Covid management policies for the national capital.
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The city health department said that from Thursday, Delhi has started providing free COVID-19 precautionary doses to beneficiaries in the 18-59 age group at government vaccination centres.
Delhi has also started genome sequencing of samples of all Covid-infected people to ascertain if a new variant, such as the XE, has spread in the city.
With PTI inputs
