Delhi records 32 new Covid deaths, highest since July 24

The number of deaths reported each day had declined since mid-July through August, to a low of eight deaths on August 16. An average of 22 deaths were recorded each day over the past seven days, the highest since early August.

The Capital recorded 32 deaths due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Monday, the most fatalities in a single day in the city since July 24. Monday’s rise saw the death toll go up to 4,599, as per the Delhi government’s daily health bulletin.

Medical workers take care of patients suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi. (reuters)

The number of deaths reported each day had declined since mid-July through August, to a low of eight deaths on August 16. An average of 22 deaths were recorded each day over the past seven days, the highest since early August.

Further, 2,077 new cases of the disease were logged in Monday’s bulletin.

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But even though there has been an increase in the absolute number of deaths, with the simultaneous increase in the number of tests and new cases, the case fatality rate (CFR) — the fraction of people who die among those who test positive – has declined.

Delhi’s current CFR stands at 2.38%, a decline from the 2.47% reported on average during the last week. The week before that, Delhi’s CFR stood at 2.61%. However, this is still much higher than the national average of 1.72%.

“Delhi’s case fatality rate might be higher than the national average because of the people who travel from neighbouring states to avail treatment from Delhi,” said Dr Neeraj Gupta, a professor in Safdarjung hospital’s pulmonology department.

“Doctors now know more about the disease and treatment protocols have been standardised. This is why there was a decrease in the number of deaths in July, and even now the numbers are unlikely to go too high,” Dr Gupta added.

The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 has also gone up in the city, with over 5,000 people hospitalised with the infection, the data shows. The number of people admitted dipped to its lowest on July 28 when 2,775 people were in hospitals. It has increased over the past few weeks, and as on Monday, 5,218 were hospitalised in the city.

Delhi also recorded more recoveries than new cases on Monday, when testing dipped to just 22,945 from the peak of 38,895 recorded on September 5. According to the data, 2,411 people recovered from the infection on Monday.