New Delhi: Delhi's oxygen requirement has dipped from 700 MT a day to 582 MT and the government has written to the Centre that its surplus oxygen be given to other states, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Thursday. He also said the city's positivity rate is down to 14 per cent with 10,400 cases recorded in a 24-hour period.
"The number of new cases has come down to around 10,400 from a high of around 28,000. The positivity rate has dipped from 35 per cent to 14 per cent. More beds are available in the COVID hospitals now and the demand for oxygen has also dipped," Sisodia said at a virtual press conference.
Delhi needed 700 metric tonnes of oxygen per day when the coronavirus cases peaked. In view of the reduced bed occupancy and dip in the number of daily cases, the government has re-calculated the demand, which is 582 MT now, he added.
The Centre had recently increased Delhi's quota of oxygen to 590 MT per day.
"The Delhi government has written to the Centre, urging it to give the surplus oxygen to other states. We are a responsible government," Sisodia, who is also the nodal minister for COVID-19 management in the capital, said.
He thanked the Centre and the Delhi High Court for coming to the aid of Delhiites when they were in distress due to a surge in the number of coronavirus cases.
The number of oxygen-related SOS calls from hospitals has also reduced sharply, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader said, adding that only one or two such cases were reported in the last 24 to 48 hours.
The national capital reported 13,287 COVID-19 cases and 300 more fatalities due to the viral disease on Wednesday with a positivity rate of 17 per cent.
It reported 12,481 cases on Tuesday, 12,651 on Monday, 13,336 on Sunday, 17,364 on Saturday, 19,832 last Friday, 19,133 last Thursday, 20,960 last Wednesday and 19,953 last Tuesday.
The positivity rate was 17.8 per cent on Tuesday, 19.10 per cent on Monday, 21.67 per cent on Sunday and 23.34 per cent on Saturday.
On April 22, a positivity rate of 36.2 per cent, the highest so far, was recorded.
