The fresh cases came out of 1,800 tests conducted the previous day, the health department bulletin stated. The city government had last released the coronavirus bulletin on December 22 (Thursday). Delhi had logged five cases with a positivity rate of 0.19 percent and one death on Wednesday.

Only 14 of the 8,198 beds are occupied in dedicated COVID-19 hospitals in the city, while 18 patients are in home isolation, the bulletin said. The number of active cases in the national capital stands at 26, it said. The Delhi government on Monday approved a budget of Rs 104 crore for hospitals to procure general medicines as part of preparations to deal with emergency situations amid a surge in Covid cases in some countries.

At a review meeting, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia directed the heads of government hospitals to share details of beds, ventilators, ICUs, human resources, oxygen plants, and medical logistics with the health department. Officials also began visiting all government hospitals in Delhi to ascertain their preparedness to deal with any eventuality, authorities said.

"We have started physically visiting all government hospitals. An inventory of beds, liquid medical oxygen, ventilators and other equipment is being prepared. It will be ready by Monday evening," East Delhi District Magistrate Anil Banka said. A mock drill will be conducted across all city government hospitals on Tuesday.??