With 32 more deaths, Delhi's COVID-19 tally crosses 5000-mark

NEW DELHI: With 32 more Covid-19 patients succumbing to the deadly virus in the past 24 hours, the fatality count in the national capital crossed the 5,000-mark on Monday. As per the daily state health bulletin, the total tally now stands at stands at 5,014.As new cases of coronavirus continue to rise, the number of deaths per day has also gone up. In the past seven days, fatalities have ranged between the 30 to 40 every day, with more than 240 deaths being registered in one week.

Based on the data of the last 10 days, the current death rate as on Monday is 0.83 per cent, a marginal increase compared to the data on September 12 which was 0.68 per cent.At the beginning of the month, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal had said that the daily death rate in the city is not only the lowest in the country but also across the world. The fatality rate in Delhi is 1.4 per cent, which is lower than the national fatality rate which lies at 1.7 per cent.

Although the city is seeing a rise in per day count of those succumbing to the infection, the case fatality rate of Delhi has rather dipped compared to previous months - while it was 3.12 per cent in July, in August it fell more to 2.54 per cent and currently it stands at 2.04 per cent. 

Health Minister Satyendra Jain also emphasised that people travelling from other states to the city have contributed to sizeable increase in number of cases. “Around 30 per cent Covid-19 patients admitted to Delhi hospitals are from outside the city,” he said. Epidemiologist Chandrakant Lahriya stated that hospitals are better equipped to tackle critical cases.

“We should look at the proportion of cases. If we look at the fatality rate, that has come down. Recently, the count has gone up but we should not be looking at per day cases and the deaths should not be counted on face value. As far as the rising number of new positives are concerned that is primarily because of the increase in testing rates and citizens of Delhi not following safety norms,” he said.