COVID-19 Death Data Row: Delhi Govt. Issues Fresh Guidelines To Hospitals

New Delhi: The Delhi government issued guidelines to report fatalities from COVID-19 in a timely manner, to clear the air over the mismatch in death count. Both the BJP and Congress urged the Arvind Kejriwal government to be more transparent with regard to fatalities related to COVID-19.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal however, stated that there were fewer number of serious patients and deaths caused by the infection in the city. Delhi's death toll stands at 73, while the total number of coronavirus positive patients rose to 6542.

The Delhi government has a lot of criticism over the last few days in the light of the fact that the number of deaths reported by hospitals was higher than the figure released in its health bulletin. The state government attributed this mismatch to delayed reporting of fatalities by hospitals.

Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev issued an order on Sunday stating "it has come to the notice of the government that public and private hospitals (both COVID-19 dedicated and non COVID-19 hospitals) are not reporting deaths caused by the virus in a timely and regular manner."

The Delhi chief secretary's order stated that every COVID-19 hospital and other health facilities "will appoint nodal officers who will ensure timely communication of deaths. MS (medical superintendent)/MD (medical director)/Directors of all concerned hospitals will ensure this on a daily basis without fail," it said. The order further said that any delay should be explained in a written format.

The order also said that even if no death has taken place, "a NIL report shall be furnished by email to IDSP Cell for the compilation of death data."

Senior officials from the 10 hospitals assigned to treat COVID-19 patients pointed out that the number of people who died due to Coronavirus is higher than the figures shown in Delhi government bulletins.