Delhi govt warns of action against hospitals for delay in reporting COVID-19 deaths; issues SOP

Facing criticism for "under reporting" COVID-19 deaths, the Delhi government on Sunday warned hospitals and other health facilities of strict action in case of any delay in reporting of coronavirus fatalities and also issued an SOP.

Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev issued the order along with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) under which all COVID-19 hospitals and other facilities will e-mail a 'death report' to the district and state surveillance units everyday by 5 pm.

In the order, Dev said 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.

It has also been observed that despite repeated reminders, the death summaries of the deceased are not being provided to the death audit committee leading to submission of "incorrect or delayed reports".

Officials of the 10 hospitals treating COVID-19 patients have said the number of people dead due to the virus is higher than what the Delhi government's bulletin reflects.

"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," Dev said in the order.

If there is a delay in reporting of deaths, the MS, MD or nodal officer of the 'defaulter hospital' will have to file a written explanation, the official order said. "Even if no death has happened, even then a NIL report shall be furnished by email to IDSP Cell for the compilation of death data," Dev said.

The death audit committee will meet daily at 5.30 pm for examining the death report due to COVID-19, it stated, adding that the committee will examine and see all the relevant documents and after due diligence will declare "death due to COVID-19 or otherwise".

Non-compliance will be viewed seriously and strict action as per the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act as well as other relevant laws will be taken against the defaulters without any further notice," the chief secretary said.

On Saturday, Congress leader Ajay Maken had sought more transparency from the Kejriwal government while Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari urged the chief minister to "tell the truth" about COVID-19 deaths in the city, saying people have a right to know about the severity of the outbreak.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that said 75 per cent of COVID-19 cases in the city are asymptomatic or showing mild symptoms, and asserted that the number of serious patients and deaths caused by the infection is "less".

"The number of serious patients is less. The number of COVID-19 -19 deaths is very less," he said, a day after his government was attacked for "under reporting" the deaths.

A confusion has prevailed over the exact number of deaths in the national capital as the data from four hospitals showed that 92 people succumbed to the infection against 68 reported by the Delhi government till Friday.

However, Kejriwal said on Sunday that 73 people have died due to the virus in the city.

He said Delhi has reported 6,923 coronavirus cases, out of which 2,069 have recovered, while 91 patients are in ICU and 27 are on ventilator support.