Delhi govt issues notice to hospitals for delay in reporting COVID-19 deaths

The govt has issued an advisory to Loknayak Jayaprakash Hospital to "be careful in future" and follow the orders of the Health Department so that there is no inconsistency in reporting death toll

The Delhi government on Sunday issued show cause notices to several hospitals in the city, for enquiring about the "delay in reporting death cases", authorities said on Sunday.

The government has issued notice to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital of Delhi government and AIIMS, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital of the central government asking them to explain reasons for the delay in reporting cases of death and violation of directions of the Delhi Health Department as well as the Delhi Disaster Management Authority.

The government has issued an advisory to Loknayak Jayaprakash Hospital to "be careful in future" and follow the orders of the Health Department properly so that there is no inconsistency in reporting the death toll to the government.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said that the Central government-run hospitals are giving data of deaths very late.

"The Central government-run hospitals including Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and Safdarjung Hospital are giving reports of death very late. They gave data of 34 deaths yesterday, which was very late. They should have reported them much earlier," Jain told ANI.

He said that the Delhi government has asked both the hospitals to release the data of deaths within 24 hours, Jain said.

With 1,295 new cases and 13 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, Delhi's COVID-19 count on Sunday rose to 19,844 including 473 deaths.