Coronavirus cases in Delhi cross 2,000-mark; death toll rises to 45: Authorities

(Eds: adds inputs, incorporates related series)

New Delhi, Apr 19 () The total number of coronavirus cases in the national capital on Sunday climbed to 2,003, with 110 fresh cases and two deaths being reported in a day, according to the Delhi government authorities.

Of the total number of 45 fatalities reported till date in Delhi, 25 were aged 60 and above, making 56 per cent of the total death cases, the Delhi Health Department said.

Ten of them were in the age group of 50-59 and 10 were aged less than 50 years, officials said.

By Saturday night, the number of cases of the deadly virus in the city stood at 1,893, including 43 deaths.

With two more fatalities reported, the death toll from COVID-19 in Delhi has jumped to 45.

A one-and-a-half-month-old baby died of the coronavirus infection on Saturday at a hospital here, making him the country's youngest victim of the deadly disease.

This is also perhaps the first case of fatality of an infant due to COVID-19 in the national capital.

The baby died at Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital attached to the Centre-run Lady Hardinge Medical College, a doctor of the hospital said on the condition of anonymity.

Of the total number of deaths, 20 have occurred at RML Hospital, five each at LNJP Hospital and Apollo Hospital and rest at other facilities, the Health Department said.

The department shared the age profile of 1,989 of the total confirmed cases reported in the city, saying details of the remaining 14 patients are awaited.

Of these, 1,283 patients are aged less than 50 years, 320 are in the age group of 50-59 and 386 are aged 60 years and above.

Meanwhile, 35 more people have tested positive in a containment zone in south Delhi's Tughlakabad Extension area, authorities said on Sunday, making it possibly one of the largest such zones in the national capital in terms of the number of cases.

The number of containment zones in Delhi on Sunday increased to 78, with two new zones being added, officials said.

The civic authorities have carried out mass sanitisation and disinfection drives in hotspot areas in the past several days using drones and other measures.

Daily house-to-house surveillance and sanitisation of areas under containment is being done. Sample collection and testing is also under process, an official statement said.

An order has been issued to ensure wide publicity of Integrated Govt Online Training (IGOT) courses on DIKSHA platform on COVID-19 Pandemic, to take care of the training needs of health workers of various categories, it added.

According to the Delhi Health Department, out of the total 2,003 cases recorded so far, at least 682 are admitted at various hospitals like LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) and AIIMS Jhajjhar. It said 26 patients are in ICU and six on ventilator support.

The total number of samples sent for COVID-19 testing till date stands at 24,387, the Delhi Health Department said in the statement.

As many as 32,192 people, who came in contact with affected persons, are under home quarantine and 20,041 have completed their 14-day quarantine, it said. KND PLB BUN IJTIJT