Delhi on Saturday recorded the biggest jump in number of COVID-19 deaths in a day with 23 fatalities, taking the total to 231. All the deaths, however, did not happen over a span of 24 hours.
The Delhi government’s health bulletin also reported 591 novel coronavirus infections in the Capital in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to 12,910. This is the second-highest number of cases reported in a day in the city.
Of the 12,910 cases, 6,267 people have recovered and there are 6,412 active cases.
The first case of COVID-19 was reported in the city on March 2 and around May 8, it was reported that the number of deaths reported by the Delhi government is less than the fatality figures from hospitals.
According to the Delhi government, all hospitals send death reports to an audit committee appointed by it which sifts through them and certifies only the ones that fulfil criteria mentioned in the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines as COVID-19 deaths.
For more than two months, from March 2 to May 8, only 68 deaths were reported in the city by the Delhi government. After the mismatch in figures was highlighted, from May 9 to May 23, 163 more deaths were reported in less than 15 days. The Delhi government said the number of deaths increased due to audit of the data on deaths not sent earlier by hospitals.
From May 14, the Delhi government has stopped releasing hospital-wise COVID-19 deaths in the city.
