Delhi’s Covid-19 death rate tops country in May

The national capital’s active caseload and positivity rate have fallen in recent weeks but the death rate lags the trend

Delhi has clocked the highest Covid-19 case fatality rate (CFR) in the country in the first three weeks of May, as the country endured a towering second wave that caught the national capital off guard and tested its medical infrastructure. A recent dip in positivity rates and active cases have sparked hopes for an imminent easing of strict lockdown measures.

The national capital registered a case fatality rate, which is a ratio of deaths to positive Covid cases, of 2.5% so far in May, which was more than twice that of the country’s overall death rate of 1.2% and even higher than Delhi’s own CFR in the preceding three weeks of 1.1%.

On the positive side, Delhi has managed to bring its positivity rate down to 2.4% by Sunday, down from a high of 35% on April 26. India’s overall positivity rate has hovered between 11-17% in the last seven days.

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Delhi’s active cases have stabilised too, falling to nearly 27,000 - less than a third of the number at the end of April, and now accounts for 1% of the country’s total active caseload.

The country’s death rate has also seen a sharp upturn from the last three weeks of April, which came in at 0.7%. Overall, Covid-19 deaths in India nearly doubled to 83,135 deaths in May, even though positive cases only grew about 20% in comparison to the same period last month.

Other hard-hit states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Goa all registered death rates in excess of 2%.

The death rate, however, may reflect a two-week lag that deaths take to catch up with a rise or fall in cases. This may explain the hefty increase in case fatality rates in comparison to overall cases numbers.

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The Delhi government on Sunday stretched its lockdown out for another week, with a phased easing of lockdown measures after May 31 if cases continue to trend downwards and people stick to Covid-appropriate norms.

“I won’t say we have won this battle , but we have brought it under control,” Kejriwal said at a press conference where he addressed the Covid situation.

Delhi was one of the worst-hit among states and Union Territories during the second wave of the pandemic, with thousands of people inundating hospitals and life-saving oxygen in short supply.