The Capital recorded 1,075 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hour, pushing the total number of cases to 1,30,606. In the same period, 21 deaths were reported taking the total deaths to 3,827, according to a heath bulletin released by the Delhi government.
It added that 1,807 people recovered, the total number of recoveries now being listed at 1,14,875. There are currently 11,904 active cases in the Capital.
Commenting on the numbers, the Delhi government said that a detailed analysis of deaths due to COVID-19 in Delhi carried out by the Health Department for the period June 1-12 and July 1-12 has revealed a 44% decline in deaths – from 1,089 to 605.
“The analysis revealed that deaths in Delhi government- run COVID hospitals saw a 58% reduction from early June to July – from 361 deaths to 154 deaths. In comparison, deaths in private COVID hospitals saw a 25% reduction from June to July and deaths in Central government- run hospitals saw a 55% reduction,” the government said.
The government added that hospital-wise analysis of deaths revealed that the percentage of death rate (total deaths vis-à-vis total admissions) in Central government’s RML Hospital was 81% in June, which dropped to 58% in July. In Safdarjung Hospital, the percentage of death rate dropped from 40% in June to 31% in July and in Lok Nayak Hospital, it dropped from 28% in early June to 16% in early July.
Crucial initiatives
The government attributed the turnaround to Chief Miniser Arvind Kejriwal’s emphasis on timely implementation of crucial initiatives to prevent deaths. It said that initiative that were key to reduction of deaths in Delhi included widespread testing, providing oximeters to patients under home isolation, a responsive ambulance system, display of beds on the Corona app and a focus on ICU beds.
“From an average of 5,500 tests per day, Delhi scaled up its testing to reach an average of 21,000 tests per day in early July. As on date, Delhi’s current testing rate of 50,000 per million is by far the highest in the country,” the Delhi government said, adding that it has ensured that COVID-19 patients could access testing facilities easily and reach hospitals before their condition gets serious. The government said that its home isolation programme had been a success as with the help of oximeters that were provided free to patients, they could monitor their vitals and request transfer to a hospital if their condition deteriorated.
Apart from adding the number of beds available for COVID-19 patients and its display of the Corona app, the government said it set its focus on expanding the number of ICU beds. “From less than 500 ICU beds in early June, Delhi today has over 2,200 ICU beds in COVID hospitals, about 1,400 of which are vacant,” the government said.
