‘Covid primary cause of death in 21% victims from Jan 13-25'

NEW DELHI: Between January 13 and 25, only a little over 20% of the 438 Covid-19 classified deaths were due to a coronavirus infection with the rest being primarily caused by other comorbid illness, the death audit committee of the Delhi government has found, according to details accessed by HT.

Sweta Goswami and Alok KN Mishra

The 94 deaths spread over 13 days means there were a little over seven fatalities a day caused primarily by Covid-19 on average, corresponding to a period when cases were at its peak. The death audit committee also found that 64% of the deaths in which Covid-19 was the primary cause were in unvaccinated people.

It was not immediately clear whether the rest were in people who were fully or partially vaccinated.

“We can now say that in this wave fewer infected people are dying of Covid-19. Data from the last 13 days shows that 318 or 72.6% of those who lost their lives, died due to other serious illnesses such as cancer or kidney, liver, or heart diseases, said a senior health department official who asked not to be named.

Mostly, we are seeing that the Omicron variant is not impacting even mild to moderately comorbid patients, if they are given timely and correct treatment after quick diagnosis.

The learning is that people with comorbidities, especially those with serious comorbid conditions should be extra cautious, this person added.

Prior to the current wave, the last time there were seven deaths a day on average over a week was in the third week of June, at the end of the Delta variant-triggered wave.

The data was presented at the meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Thursday, where it was decided that some of the curbs, like the weekend curfew and the complete ban on dine-in service at restaurants, will be rolled back.