Delhi govt seeks explanation from hospitals on ‘exponential rise’ in Covid-19 deaths

New Delhi, Jan 12 (Bureau) With the exponential rise in the number of Covid-19 deaths, the Delhi government has sought an explanation from the hospitals to assess whether these deaths could have been prevented, government sources told UNI. The government directed all the hospitals on Thursday to collate patient-wise information of all the deaths reported in the last five days including the vaccination status, according to the sources. “The government has demanded the information about the admission of the deceased, date of testing positive, complications reported and the treatment administered to the deceased,” a senior official told UNI. “All nodal officers have been asked to visit their hospitals immediately and review the systems that are in place to handle these patients and see if these deaths could have been prevented,” he said. The directions also asked the hospitals to include the status of Covid-19 vaccination (first and second dose) with the date of the last jab, the official added. The sources said the direction came after 19 hospitals reported 46 Covid-19 fatalities in a single day. Of them, six patients were from outside Delhi but had been receiving treatment at Delhi hospitals. As per the record seen by the UNI, the highest toll was reported at Delhi Government-run LNJP hospital (8) followed by AIIMS Trauma Centre (7). However, the majority of the deaths were patients suffering from comorbidities and unvaccinated, according to the doctors. The official data from the last five days recorded 73 deaths from January 7-11. Nine deaths on Jan 7; Seven on Jan 8; 17 on Jan Jan 9; 17 on Jan 10 as well and 23 on Jan 12, according to the state health bulletin. A previous analysis by the Delhi government of patients who died between January 5-9 showed that 76 per cent of the fatalities occurred in unvaccinated people while the Covid-19 was an incidental finding in nearly half of the patients who died. The infection rate in the national capital has crossed 25 per cent indicating that every fourth may be carrying the Covid-19 virus.