Delhi records 1,299 new coronavirus cases; COVID-19 tally reaches 1,41,531, death toll rises to 4,059

New Delhi: Despite significant improvement in COVID-19 situation in the national capital, Delhi recorded 1,299 fresh cases of coronavirus infection on Thursday (August 6, 2020). With this, Delhi’s COVID-19 count has crossed 1.41 lakh, while the death toll due to the deadly disease has risen to 4,059, the Delhi Health Department bulletin said.

Fifteen fatalities due to COVID-19 were recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the latest health department bulletin. The city recorded 1,076 fresh COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths on Wednesday. The number of active cases rose to 10,348 on Thursday from 10,072 the previous day.

On June 23, the national capital had reported the highest single-day spike of 3,947 cases. The death toll from the coronavirus infection has risen to 4,059 and the total number of cases has climbed to 1,41,531 in Delhi, the bulletin said.

The positive rate stood at 6.3 per cent on Thursday, while the recovery rate was over 89 per cent, it said. Out of the total number of beds in COVID-19 hospitals, 10,547 are vacant.

Also, 2,545 beds in COVID care centres are occupied by persons under quarantine, including those who have returned from abroad, it said.

According to the bulletin, 1,27,124 patients have recovered, been discharged or migrated so far. The number of people in home isolation stood at 5,244.

The number of Rapid Antigen Tests conducted on Thursday stood at 14,699 while the RT-PCR, CBNAAT and True NAAT tests figures were 5,737, in all adding to 20,436, according to the bulletin.

The total number of tests done till date in Delhi was 11,20,318. The number of tests done per million as on Thursday was 58,964, it said. The number of containment zones stood at 466, according to the latest bulletin.

It is to be noted that the Centre has directed all states to follow Delhi’s successful COVID-19 prevention model to check further spread of the coronavirus infection.

In a related development, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi on Thursday sent a fresh proposal to Lt Governor Anil Baijal seeking his permission to allow hotels, gymnasium and weekly markets to reopen in the national capital.

In its letter to the Governor, the AP government maintained that the COVID-19 situation has been improving in the national capital so hotels, gyms and weekly markets can be reopened along with Centre’ COVID-19 guidelines.

The Kejriwal government said that in accordance with the Unlock 3.0 guidelines issued by the Centre, the time is right to take decision to allow such establishments in Delhi.

In its proposal, the AAP government said that the COVID-19 cases have been increasing in several states and situation is frequently deteriorating, but hotels, gyms and weekly have been allowed there.

India saw a single-day spike of 56,282 cases, taking the country's COVID-19 tally to 19,64,536, while the death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 40,699 with 904 new fatalities being reported in a 24-hour span, data updated at 8 am showed.