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As many as 2,364 people in the national capital have lost their lives due to the novel coronavirus since October 28. At the same time, the daily rise in infections breached the mark of 5,000 cases for the first time, official data showed. On Wednesday, 99 more fatalities pushed the city's total death toll to 8,720. This was the first occasion in five days when Delhi recorded single-day deaths under 100.
On November 19, the city recorded 98 deaths, November 20 saw 1198 deaths, 111 died on November 21 while 121 each lost their lives on November 22 and 23. About 109 fatalities were witnessed on November 24.
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Delhi saw its highest COVID deaths (131) till date on November 18. The city registered its highest single-day spike of 8,593 cases on November 11.
On Thursday, Delhi had recorded 7,546 cases, followed by 6,608 on Friday, 5,879 on Saturday, 6,746 on Sunday, 4,454 on Monday, 6,224 on Tuesday and 5,246 on Wednesday, according to the government data.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Delhi climbed to 5,45,787 on Wednesday, of which 4,98,780 have recovered from the virus, the data shows.
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Late hospital admissions leading to COVID-19 cases turning critical, shortage of ICU beds, unfavourable weather and rising pollution are among the factors experts attribute to the spike in COVID-19 deaths in Delhi, health experts have said.
Going by the epidemiological trend, the severity of the disease is more in this phase of the pandemic compared to the last one and several factors, including weather and pollution, are contributing to it, a health ministry official said on Wednesday.
Amid a spurt in the infection tally in the city, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had Wednesday requested experts to audit COVID-19 death cases and suggest measures to reduce fatalities in the national capital.
Health Minister Satyender Jain on Wednesday claimed the national capital reported the "least fatality per million" population amongst all four metro cities in the country.
The National Centre for Disease Control in a report drafted recently had warned that Delhi needs to be prepared for about 15,000 fresh cases of COVID-19 per day taking into account the upcoming winter season-related respiratory problems, large influx of patients from outside and festive gatherings.
(With PTI inputs)
