Corona cases in Delhi climb to 2625; Hindu Rao closed down as nurse tests positive

(Eds: Adds inputs, incorporates related series)

New Delhi, Apr 25 () The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital on Saturday rose to 2,625, with 111 new cases and one fresh death being reported in a day, according to the Delhi government authorities.

Of the total number of 54 fatalities reported till date, 29 of the deceased were aged 60 and above, making over 53 per cent of the total death cases, they said.

Fifteen of them were aged between 50-59 and 10 were aged less than 50 years, officials said.

By Friday night, the number of cases of the deadly virus in the city stood at 2,514, including 53 deaths.

With one more fatality, the death toll from COVID-19 in Delhi has risen to 54.

Meanwhile, a nurse at a civic hospital in north Delhi tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday, following which the facility has been closed down, officials said.

The Hindu Rao Hospital run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, has been temporarily shut for complete sanitisation and contact tracing, they said.

Also on Saturday, nine more staff of Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital, including three doctors, tested positive for coronavirus, taking number of people from the facility affected by COVID-19 till date to over 40, officials said.

According to the Delhi Health Department bulletin on Saturday, out of the total 2,625 cases recorded so far, at least 481 are admitted at various hospitals like LNJP Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) and AIIMS Jhajjhar, adding 41 of them are in ICU and 8 on ventilators.

An order has been issued to all medical directors and medical superintendents of hospitals under Delhi government and those in private sector that no patient who is reaching to non-COVID hospitals other than with coronavirus infection should be denied treatment or admission in the facility, the bulletin said.

Also, they must ensure that all safety protocols are being followed by their doctors and other health care workers, it said.

Also, on Saturday, authorities at the LNJP Hospital said that all quarantined mess workers, who had come in contact with a dietician at the mess who had earlier tested positive, have tested negative for COVID-19.

They are, however, still quarantined as per the protocol. The mess area has been thoroughly sanitised and decontaminated. Hopefully mess services will resume from coming Monday, they said. KND AARAAR