872 deaths in 15 days; cases surge, pollution, laxity in behaviour factors, say experts
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872 deaths in 15 days; cases surge, pollution, laxity in behaviour factors, say experts


Over 870 COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in the last 15 days in the national capital, with experts attributing it to a sudden surge in cases, deteriorating air quality, laxity by people in adhering to safety norms, among other factors.

Coronavirus cases in Delhi have registered a sudden spike since October 28 when the daily infection tally breached the 5,000-mark for the first time and it crossed the 8,000-mark on Thursday, also for the first time.

From October 28-November 11, the city has recorded a staggering 90,572 cases and 872 fatalities with over 80 deaths daily in the last two days.

The city recorded 85 fatalities on Wednesday, which pushed the death toll to 7,228.

The only time it recorded a higher number of deaths was on June 16 (93).

Delhi recorded its biggest single-day spike of 8,593 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday that took its infection tally to over 4.59 lakh.

Medical experts from government hospitals to private facilities have attributed to this large number of deaths in the last two weeks to a combination of factors, including a surge in daily cases amid greater movement of public in festive season, co-morbid condition of patients, increased vulnerability of people due to rising pollution and laxity in adhering to safety norms by people in markets and other public places.

S P Byotra, chairman, department of medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said daily cases have spiralled, so death count has also gone up simultaneously.

“Plus, there are other factors, like increase in pollution level which is magnifying complications of people with respiratory illnesses, and patients coming to Delhi in very sick condition from the neighbouring states,” he said.

However, one factor that has really led this massive spike in cases and hence more deaths, is the “lax and irresponsible behaviour of a large number of people” in wearing masks or adhering to other safety norms.

B L Sherwal, Medical Director, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH), echoed Byotra and added that most of the fatalities are of people in the age group of 60s, 70s and above.

“And, most of these patients had co-morbid conditions, like diabetes or hypertension that accelerated their death. But, fatalities are rising in proportion to increase in the number of daily cases and spike in cases have happened also due to people not following safety norms in public places,” he told


(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)

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