Delhi govt sets deadline for hospitals to report Covid-19 deaths

The government also released a standard operating procedure (SOP) detailing when and how the death reports are to be submitted, and asked for a detailed written explanation in the case of delays.

The Delhi government on Sunday asked all designated Covid-19 treatment centres in the city to send details of deaths caused by the pathogen by 5pm every day to facilitate the timely auditing of fatalities, and said action would be taken against centres under the Disaster Management Act if there are violations in the reporting protocol and deadline.

Indian nationals, who were stranded in Singapore due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, are seen along with medics wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) at the airport, upon their arrival in New Delhi, India. (REUTERS)

The government also released a standard operating procedure (SOP) detailing when and how the death reports are to be submitted, and asked for a detailed written explanation in the case of delays.

The SOP comes days after reports surfaced of confusion over coronavirus disease death numbers in the Capital, with doctors from at least two designated Covid-19 centres suggesting that more people had succumbed to the disease than was being reflected in the daily bulletins put out by the state government.

It was not immediately clear if such a discrepancy existed, and if it did, what was behind it. The Delhi government denied any underreporting, and some state officials said that there may be a lag in the auditing and reporting process.

“It has come to notice that both public and private hospitals are not reporting the deaths of positive cases of Covid-19 occurring in their hospitals in a timely and regular manner. It has further been observed that despite repeated reminders, the death summaries of the deceased patients are not being provided to death audit committee, resulting in incorrect or delayed reports being submitted,” said Sunday’s order, issued by Delhi chief secretary Vijay Dev.

The government stressed in the SOP that its death audit committee for Covid-19 -- it was set up last month -- needs to audit each and every Covid-19 death daily to ensure proper reporting.

Speaking to HT last week, a member of the three-member committee said on condition of anonymity: “The death audit committee goes through the patient case sheets, investigations, and death summary to include the death in the Covid-19 toll. The committee can report the cases as soon as all the relevant documents are received and this may take a while. Like, for example, the one death reported yesterday was of a patient from May 1. Yes, there is a lag but it is not deliberate underreporting.”

Death numbers are critical in analysing the spread of the disease and its impact. With 73 deaths out of 6,923 infections in the Capital until Sunday, the fatality rate in Delhi is 1.05%, which is among the lowest in the country. Any anomaly in the numbers, however, could severely hamper the city’s fight against Covid-19 because all projections on infrastructure required to fight the disease going forward are based on these calculations.

The new SOP says that even if there have been no deaths, centres have to send a “nil” report by 5pm. It adds that each hospital will appoint a nodal officer to ensure that the deaths are reported in a timely manner. The matter will be escalated to the level of state surveillance officer and then the director general of health services if the report is not received by the state Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) at 5pm.

The three-member death audit committee will meet at 5.30pm each day to review the deaths that day.

For centres that fail to send a report by 6pm, the nodal officer will have to report the numbers to the state health secretary the next morning, along with details of the deceased, and an explanation of the delay in sharing the information.

These protocols will be applicable for both government and private hospitals. There is, however, no mention of how hospitals other than the Covid-19 designated facilities have to report any deaths at their centres.

Action can be initiated under the Disaster Management Act if the protocols are not followed, according to the SOP.

“In exercise of powers conferred under Section 22 of the Disaster Management Act 2005, the undersigned, in his capacity as the chairperson, state executive committee, DDMA (Delhi Disaster Management Authority) hereby directs that the reporting of death cases of Covid-19 positive persons from health facilities (government and private) in Delhi, shall be strictly as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) annexed in this order,” the order read.

The Distaster Management Act, 2005, gives various emergency powers to Union and state governments in the face of natural disasters.