NEW DELHI: The national capital on Tuesday registered its highest single-day death toll so far, with 13 succumbing to the coronavirus. According to the daily health bulletin released by the state government, the total tally now stands at 86.
The new deaths as mentioned in the bulletin have come from Lok Nayak Hospital which is a designated Covid facility under the state government. While the earlier count from the hospital was five, the total on Tuesday stood at 18. According to a source, the figure of deaths as mentioned on Tuesday’s bulletin is not from Monday but is a reconciliation of data from the hospital.
Last week, reports of the death tally being fudged by the Delhi government had made headlines, with hospitals such as Ram Manohar Lohia, Lady Hardinge Medical College and LNJP all claiming higher number of fatalities than those published by the AAP led state government.
On Sunday, Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev issued an order directing all government and private hospitals to communicate each Covid-19 related issue to the IDSP team. The authorities also issued guidelines to hospitals for timely submission of the daily report on number of fatalities.
However, as per sources, the numbers of dead bodies cremated or buried with corona protocol are even higher than cumulative figures provided by the hospitals.
An MCD official stated that 153 bodies have been cremated at Nigambodh Ghat and around 90 bodies have been buried at Kotla Qabristan in ITO while following protocol pertaining to those related to Covid fatalities.
The state continues to see a surge in fresh coronavirus cases with 406 new cases being reported on Monday, taking the tally of active cases up to 5,041.
However, 383 positive patients also recovered on the same day. In the city, 111 patients are currently in ICU while 20 patients are on ventilators. Following the centre’s protocols, 1,073 asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients have been kept in home isolation.