356 new cases in Delhi: Highest spike puts count at 1,510

Monday’s numbers underline a trend seen since the end of March: 70% of all new cases in Delhi are from those who were evacuated from the building, where they shared space in close quarters.

The number of confirmed coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the national capital jumped to 1,510 after 356 -- nearly twice the previous high for single-day new cases -- more people were found with the virus. Over 90% of the new infections detected are among people evacuated from the Nizamuddin building of the Tablighi Jamaat.

Of the 1,451 active infections, 49 are in the intensive care unit with five of them on ventilator. So far, samples from 15,032 people have been collected in Delhi and result of 1,008 were awaited till Monday evening. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT photo)

Monday’s numbers underline a trend seen since the end of March: 70% of all new cases in Delhi are from those who were evacuated from the building, where they shared space in close quarters.

Of the 1,451 active infections, 49 are in the intensive care unit with five of them on ventilator. So far, samples from 15,032 people have been collected in Delhi and result of 1,008 were awaited till Monday evening.

“Most of the 998 samples that remain to be tested in government labs are from the people evacuated under the special operation,” said a Delhi government official. The government stopped referring to the cases linked to the Nizamuddin cluster as those from the ‘Markaz’, replacing it with ‘special operations’.

The city reported four more deaths on Monday, taking the death toll due to the illness to 28.

A break-up of the 24 deaths reported till Sunday showed that half of the deaths were in one hospital – Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. The hospital has treated only 34 of the 1,120 cases in the city. The death rate at the hospital is a whopping 35%, whereas the death rate among the other cases are just 1%.

“Most of the Covid deaths that have occurred in our hospital are of patients who were referred from other hospitals at an advanced stage and had significant comorbidities. The patients who are attending our hospital early in their course of disease or do not have significant comorbidities are faring very well,” said the hospital in a statement.

“Whenever such kind of statistic is presented, the first thing we need to see is whether the hospital is receiving the highest number of cases or the most critical cases. And, that is what must have happened. Initially, RML was the only testing centre and it was the first hospital people were getting admitted to. So, most of the critical cases remained there, that could be the reason for the high mortality rate,” according to Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine

Some blame it on the infrastructure. “It is a new medical college, the facility is smaller and the equipment is not advanced, all these issues definitely play a role in mortality,” said a doctor from a government hospital, on condition of anonymity.

At least seven more health care workers from two private hospitals in the city have tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, taking the tally of doctors, nurses, technicians, and sanitation staff with the infection in the city to 55.

Of these, 23 are from the Delhi State Cancer Institute, which has become a hotspot for Covid-19. Four patients and the relative of one have also tested positive for the infection.

A 2-year-old boy, the son of one of the nursing staff who tested positive earlier, also tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday.