After 2 years, Covid not top cause of death in Delhi

Of the 81,630 institutional deaths reported in 2022, “septicemia” (septic shock and infections) was the single largest contributor to deaths (14.9%) in Delhi.

For the first time since the onset of the pandemic, Covid-19 was not the leading cause of deaths registered across Delhi in 2022 – deaths attributed to the viral outbreak fell from 14.9% in 2021, to 1.6% in 2022, Delhi government’s death registry data shows, highlighting how life in the Capital and beyond had gone back to normal with the onset of vaccines.

Covid-19 was the primary cause of death over the two preceding years. (File)

Of the 81,630 institutional deaths (those that were reported at a health facility in the city) reported over 2022 in Delhi, “septicemia” (septic shock and infections) was the single largest contributor to deaths (14.9%) with a total of 12,125 accounted fatalities. It was followed by diseases of “pulmonary circulation and other heart diseases” which was the official cause of deaths in 9,395 cases accounting for 11.5% of the total deaths, according to the “Annual Report on Registration of Births & Deaths in Delhi, 2022” published by the city government.

Covid-19 infections, meanwhile, was the 13th largest cause of deaths with 1,301 fatalities, accounting for 1.6% of the total institutional deaths in Delhi, the Civil Registration System (CRS) report shows.

For context, Covid-19 was the primary cause of death over the two preceding years – in 2021, 14.9% of deaths were due to the disease, while its share in fatalities in 2020 was 10.11%. Before the onset of the pandemic in 2018 and 2019, “septicimea” and “hypertensive heart diseases” were the leading causes, data shows.

Delhi saw a total of 128,106 death registration during 2022 and an average number of 351 deaths per day – a decrease from 171,476 deaths registered during 2021.

Data shows that seven in 10 deaths that took place in Delhi, did so at an institutional facility – of the 128,106 deaths registered in Delhi in 2022, 81,630 took place at a hospital or nursing home.

An MCD official said that as per the registration act, it is mandatory to provide medically certified cause of death for each institutional death by the doctor who attended the deceased.

“During 2022, a total of 81,630 deaths were reported by hospitals and nursing homes across Delhi. These deaths have been provided medically certified cause of deaths, and thus are classified as per International Classification of Diseases, ICD-10 as per WHO guidelines,” official explained.

Non institutional deaths in Delhi are classified as domiciliary deaths and they are registered separately. A government official explained that in Delhi, the reporting of medical certification of cause of death (MCCD) has been made compulsory since the year 2003 in respect of institutional deaths but domiciliary deaths have not been brought under this ambit. “The domiciliary deaths have not been brought under the ambit of MCCD due to various practical problems such as lack of awareness among the citizens, economic conditions and also due to non-availability of adequate health infrastructure,” government report adds.

Data shows that of Delhi’s total institutional deaths, 14.9% were caused by “septicimea”, followed by 11.5% due to “diseases of pulmonary circulation and other forms of heart disease”, 7.6% were due to “shock, not elsewhere classified under any other diseases”, 4.4% were due to “liver diseases”, 4.3% to tuberculosis, and 2.7% to pneumonia.

In comparison, during 2021, 15% deaths were attributed Covid-19, 10.4% were due to “diseases of pulmonary circulation and other forms of heart diseases”, 8.7% were due to “septicemia”, 4.8% due to “shock, not elsewhere classified”, 3.5% due to diseases of liver, and 2.65% due to tuberculosis. The analysis of month-wise deaths during 2021 indicated that more than 36% of total deaths were occurred in the months of April and May – coinciding with the brutal second wave of the pandemic.

The CRS data largely appears to concur with the number of reported Covid-19 fatalities in the same period. According to number compiled by HT from Delhi government’s Covid-19 bulletins, a total of 1,414 Covid-19 deaths were reported in 2022, while this number was 14,571 in 2021 and 10,536 in 2020.

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An MCD official from public health department said that the annual report coincides with the registration trends witnessed over the last two years. “Septicaemia deaths involve all kinds of sepsis which are caused by toxicity due to infectious diseases while in case of hypertensive diseases, the problems related to blood arteries are impacted. With largescale vaccination, Delhi has reverted back to the death trends seen before the pandemic,” official added.