New Delhi: On Sunday, Delhi recorded 30 Covid-19 deaths — the highest single-day figure so far — taking the national capital’s death toll to 261.
The past week has been particularly devastating for Delhi as it witnessed a record-high number of cases almost every single day, with as many as 660 cases reported Friday. In the last six days, at least 500 cases were registered every day.
Furthermore, of the total 13,418 cases of Covid-19 in Delhi, 4,948 have been reported in the last ten days. Of these, 4,085 were recorded this last week.
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in the national capital increased from 123 on 15 May to 261 on 24 May. Since 18 May, there have been 113 deaths, according to government data.
?Delhi Health Bulletin – 24th May 2020 ?#DelhiFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/mMPRst6O3f
— CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) May 24, 2020
?Delhi Health Bulletin – 22nd May 2020?#DelhiFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/9Ih43mVG0a
— CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) May 22, 2020
?Delhi Health Bulletin – 20th May 2020?#DelhiFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/MCd54kK6BC
— CMO Delhi (@CMODelhi) May 20, 2020
The health bulletins by the Delhi government, however, have not been carrying daily case numbers for some days. The daily update on Covid-19 deaths has also been absent, with only cumulative figures being provided.
According to the Delhi government, the cumulative deaths figures only include those “where the primary cause of death is found to be Covid-19”. This is in contravention of WHO guidelines.
Also read: Kejriwal govt begins ‘verification’ process as discrepancy over Delhi’s Covid deaths remains
Sudden rise in containment zones
The Delhi government also increased the number of containment zones last week. Fourteen new zones were added to the list until Friday, taking the number of containment zones in the capital to 92, but the number has since come down to 87.
Zamrudpur near Greater Kailash and Dakshinpuri in Southeast Delhi were added Wednesday, after Delhi Health Secretary Padmini Singla wrote to district magistrates Tuesday, asking them to make sure areas where cases are being reported are declared containment zones according to procedure.
Seven zones were de-contained in the last two days and two new zones were added Sunday — a house in Veer Nagar in West Sagarpur and another in Aliganj, Kotla Mubarakpur.
This rise in the number of containment zones is unusual because no new zones were added from April to mid-May, even as the number of deaths and cases continued to increase.
In April, there were 102 containment zones in Delhi, and it was only on 13 May that the list was extended to include a block in Shalimar Bagh, after the area councillor wrote to the government highlighting the sudden increase in cases there.
While several zones were de-contained in this period, only one zone, the Shalimar Bagh block, was added to the list until 19 May, even as the number of cases increased from 3,515 on 30 April to 10,554 on 19 May.
As many as 41 zones have been de-contained until now.
Talking about the increase in the number of containment zones in Delhi, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said: “Now more than 500 cases are coming, because of that the containment zones have increased. The doubling rate in Delhi is 13 days.”
The national doubling rate is “more than 13 days”, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Delhi government also directed all 117 nursing homes and private hospitals with over 50 beds to earmark at least 20 per cent of their total bed strength for Covid-19 patients.
The order, undersigned by Director General Health Services Nutan Mundeja, and accessed by ThePrint, states: “It has been found that in the recent past, majority of beds earmarked for Covid-19 patients in the dedicated private hospitals are occupied at any given time. Therefore, there is a need to increase the number of beds dedicated for Covid-19 patients in the private hospitals in the city.”
Out of 13,418 total cases in Delhi, 6,540 patients have recovered from coronavirus so far, while 6,617 cases are active, according to the latest government health bulletin released Sunday.
Also read: Delhi violating ICMR, WHO norms by not Covid-testing the dead. But it’s not the only state