Toll may go up as hospital reports 53 previous deaths

THE HOSPITAL APPRISED THE AUDIT COMMITTEE OF 53 DEATHS BETWEEN FEBRUARY 1 AND MAY 16 ON WEDNESDAY

nNEWDELHI: The number of deaths reported due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Delhi may see a spike, with the Safdarjung hospital on Wednesday informing the Capital’s audit committee about 53 deaths that occurred between February 1 and May 16, according to officials.

The national capital on Wednesday recorded 792 fresh Covid-19 cases, the steepest single-day rise, taking the overall infections to 15,257. The official death toll rose to 303, but the figure did not include the fatalities newly reported by the Safdarjung hospital.

“The 53 deaths were reported from the hospital between February 1 and May 16... We report the progress of every case, including deaths, to the health ministry every day, twice a day,” said Dr Balvinder Singh, medical superintendent of the hospital, which is run by the central government.

The Delhi government said the hospital reported the big jump in deaths only on Wednesday. “The Delhi government had issued strict orders to all hospitals to submit their death summaries to the death audit committee within 24 hours. We have even sent reminders to all hospitals for compliance of the same. All our Delhi government hospitals are submitting their reports to the committee daily,” a spokesperson of the Delhi government said.

“It (the hospital) had reported only four deaths till now. The government is seriously looking at why this delay has happened,” the spokesperson added.

On May 10, Delhi’s chief secretary, Vijay Dev, ordered all designated Covid-19 hospitals to report the deaths each day by 5pm. But the hospitals have been lax in reporting them along with the requisite documentation.

A senior official from Delhi’s health department confirmed that the deaths were yet to be added to Delhi’s official death toll. “This (the lag in reporting) is the reason there have been delays in adding the deaths to the daily bulletin. The government adds the numbers as soon as the death review committee gets the files – case sheets, investigations, death summary – and determines it indeed is a Covd-19 death,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

If the 49 deaths – four fatalities from the Safdarjung hospital have already been added to the official tally – were approved by the Delhi audit committee, the official figure on Wednesday would have stood at 352, taking the case fatality rate to 2.3%, up from the current 2%.

The case fatality rate is crucial in helping governments assess their response to the disease and in determining the course of action in terms of preparedness and effectiveness of the health care system.