Delhi records 13 deaths in biggest single-day spike; toll reaches 86
NEW DELHI: With 13 deaths, Delhi recorded highest number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) deaths in a single day on Tuesday, which took the total toll in the city state to 86.
The highest single-day Covid-19 toll so far was six deaths, recorded on April 16. To be sure, not all the 13 deaths announced on Tuesday were recorded in the previous 24 hours. And it is likely that this trend could continue as Delhi reconciles its numbers with those of the hospitals, which were this week asked by the government to ensure the timely and proper reporting of all Covid-19 deaths.
The bulletin also shows that with 8,431 tests done on Tuesday, the total number of tests in the city has crossed the 100,000-mark. This puts the number of tests per million in Delhi at around 5,200, the highest in India.
On Tuesday, 383 people recovered from the viral infection, taking the number of recoveries to 2,512 so far in the city-state.
This puts Delhi’s recovery rate at almost 33%, mirroring the national average of about 32%.
All of the 13 deaths recorded on Tuesday were in Lok Nayak hospital, the city’s biggest Covid-19 treatment facility, where only five deaths were recorded since March 2 when Delhi’s first Covid-19 case was reported.
These, however, were not the deaths that took place in the hospital on Tuesday, but a backlog of deaths that hadn’t been recorded in the official bulletin so far.
Last week, there were reports that the number of deaths recorded in the health bulletin did not match what doctors at these Covid-19 hospitals were saying, perceptibly due to an accounting problem.
After the discrepancy came to light, an order on Monday from Delhi’s chief secretary Vijay Dev asked all hospitals to report their deaths timely. New standard operating procedures required all hospitals to send in their death reports, or ‘Nil’ (no deaths recorded) reports, by 5pm every day. Following this, a three-member death audit committee set up by the government would meet to review the numbers.