Delhi on Wednesday registered 2,073 new cases of Covid-19 and five deaths in the last 24 hours, data shared by the health department showed, ANI reported.

The number of new cases were 27% higher than Tuesday’s figure of 1,506 cases. At 11.64%, the positivity rate in the city remained above the 10%-mark for the third day in a row. The positivity rate was the highest recorded in the city since January 24, according to NDTV.

The national capital currently has 5,637 active cases and 1,437 people recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours. Data from the Delhi health department showed that 4% of the beds in dedicated coronavirus hospitals are currently occupied.

In the past two weeks, coronavirus cases have increased sharply in Delhi. The city has been reporting over 1000 cases for a week now.

Meanwhile, in view of the rising number of cases, the Delhi High Court decided on Wednesday to shift back to a hybrid mode of work until further orders, Live Law reported.

Fourth monkeypox case detected

Meanwhile, a 31-year-old foreigner living in Delhi tested positive for the monkeypox disease on Wednesday, NDTV reported. It is not yet known if the woman had travelled abroad recently.

With this, Delhi’s tally of monkeypox infection reached four. A total of nine cases have so far been reported in India, the five others being in Delhi.

The woman who was diagnosed on Wednesday has fever and skin lesions and has been admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital. Her samples were sent for testing and the results came positive on Wednesday, PTI reported.

Monkeypox is a rare infection that is spread by wild animals like rodents and primates in parts of West or Central Africa, according to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service.

The zoonotic virus causes a mild illness and can result in symptoms such as high temperature, headache, backache and a chickenpox-like rash. The infection can spread if a person touches monkeypox skin blisters or uses clothing, bed sheets or towels of those suffering from the disease.