Covid-19 Positivity Rate has Declined from 30% to 10% in Delhi, Says Centre

The Centre on Monday said the average number of samples being tested per day for COVID-19 has gone up in Delhi from 5,481 to 18,766 in about a month and in spite of increased testing, the positivity rate has declined from around 30 per cent to 10 per cent in the last three weeks.

The government also said that the national positivity rate, percentage of samples testing coronavirus positive from the total number of samples, has also reduced and now stands at 6.73 per cent.

The Union, state and union territory governments have made a joint and coordinated effort to effectively manage the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, the Union health ministry said in a statement.

As part of the coordinated efforts, the Union government has emphasised on increasing testing, prompt contact tracing and timely clinical management of cases, the statement said.

It has also helped states to significantly ramp up testing capacities, the ministry said.

This has resulted in reduced positivity rate in the country and the national positivity rate stands at 6.73 per cent, it said.

As on July 5, the states with their positivity rate lesser than the national average and tests per million higher than the national average are Puducherry (5.55), Chandigarh (4.36), Assam (2.84), Tripura (2.72), Karnataka (2.64), Rajasthan (2.51), Goa (2.5), and Punjab (1.92).

In Delhi, efforts being made by the Union Territory were significantly bolstered by the central government to ensure an increase in testing, the ministry said.

Tests were ramped up through increased RT-PCR testing along with the new Rapid Antigen Point-of-Care (POC) tests which gives results in only about 30 minutes, the Centre said.

"As a result of concerted and focused efforts by the government of India to augment efforts, the average number of samples being tested per day which was only 5,481 (June 1-5) has witnessed a huge increase to reach an average of 18,766 samples per day between July 1 to 5," it said.

"In spite of significantly increased testing in Delhi, the positivity rate has seen a substantial decrease from about 30 per cent to 10 per cent in the last three weeks," the statement said.

There are around 25,000 active cases in Delhi and of these, 15,000 people are currently in home-isolation.

On Sunday, Delhi recorded 2,505 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the tally close to the one-lakh mark, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 3,067.