Weekly test positivity rate at 5%, city slips back into ‘orange’ zone

New Delhi: Around two and a half months since Delhi entered the “green” zone with all its 11 revenue districts reporting an average weekly Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR) below 5%, the national capital has slipped back into the “orange” zone with an overall weekly TPR of 5%.

The week between February 6 and 12 saw a weekly average TPR of 2.2%, with South district being the last to record a weekly TPR lower than 5%. Since then, the number of cases and TPR have been on the lower side, and during the same period last month — March 4 to 10, the weekly TPR was 0.55%.

April, however, has seen both the number of daily cases and TPR rise. While the weekly TPR between April 12 and 18 was 4.22%, the last week — April 18 to 24 — saw it go up to 5%.

While a week ago, South district reported the highest weekly TPR of 7.03% and three other districts reported more than 5%, the number of districts with more than 5% weekly TPR between April 18 and 24 has gone up to five.

North West and South districts have recorded weekly TPR of 8.5% and 8.3%, respectively. These districts are followed by West (7.41%), Central (5.96%), and New Delhi (5.43%). South West (4.82%) and East (4.75%) districts are also inching towards the 5% mark.

North East is the only district that has consistently reported an average weekly TPR below 1%. While every district has seen the number of cases and TPR go up, North East has bucked the trend with its weekly TPR dipping from 0.96% between April 12 and 18 to 0.89% between April 18 and 24.
The overall average weekly positivity rate in Delhi of 5% has come from 42% Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) and 58% more reliable RT-PCR tests. This is a major dip from the usual ratio of around 20% RAT and 80% RT-PCR tests in February and March.

During the last week, South West district had the highest share of RT-PCR tests — 87% — followed by South (73%), Central (71%), North West (67%), and New Delhi (66%) districts. East district had the lowest share during this period at 33%. North East (35%) and South East (47%) districts also reported less than 50% RT-PCR tests.

The five districts reporting more than 5% weekly TPR have also had a higher share of RT-PCR tests on average — 67% — compared with the districts with less than 5% TPR that saw the average RT-PCR share at 51%.

With the rise in cases, the district authorities have ramped up testing infrastructure, apart from enforcement drives to ensure people wear face masks in public places.