No deaths in home isolation in July

New Delhi: No patient in home isolation in the Capital had succumbed to COVID-19 in the first week of July, according to a study by the Delhi government, which was presented to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a review meeting he chaired on Friday to discuss the mortality rate in Delhi. At the meeting, top officials were informed that the death rate here had reduced from 3.64 per cent in June to 3.02 per cent as of the first week of July.

"We are looking into death numbers reported from each hospital because there are no deaths reported from home isolation in July. We will study the ratio between COVID-19 patients being discharged and Coronavirus deaths in each hospital and the hospital with a lower ratio would mean it has better management by staff," said an official from the Health Department of the Delhi government. The CM has asked for the ratio of deaths to the total number of patients discharged from each hospital.

The report presented to the CM stated that during the fortnight — June 24 to July 8 — a total of 691 deaths were reported in Delhi, which is an average of 46 deaths per day. The report indicated that from 101 daily deaths in mid-June, the daily deaths have come down to 46 deaths a day, according to the Delhi government study.

The study highlighted that of these 691 deaths, seven were of patients in home isolation but had occurred between June 24 and June 30. In the same period, 505 patients were in serious condition, when admitted to hospitals. 291 of these patients were already in a hospital when tested positive, the remaining patients got timely admission to the hospital. The study found a delay in hospital admission in the case of around 28 patients.

As per the Centre's Paul Committee, 45 per cent of deaths in India occur during the first 48 hours. In Delhi, this number had come down to around 15 per cent, said the Delhi Government in an official statement.

The Delhi government in an official statement said that the CM had initiated a plan to improve processes and systems at "six crucial points of the serious Corona Patients treatment cycle." The six crucial points included an increase in testing and emphasis on home isolation of asymptomatic and mild symptom patients which kept a large number of hospital beds vacant. Faster Ambulance response time which was reduced from 55 minutes to 30.5 minutes in June.

More ambulances were also hired to ensure zero refusal. As well as "Quick Admission Process" with paperwork being done after admission in some cases. With the easy availability of hospital beds in both private and government hospitals, only 4,500 out of 15,000 beds are occupied leaving the remaining vacant. The increase in ICU Capacity with only 1,100 ICU beds out of 2,000 ICU occupied it further reduced the mortality rate in the Capital.