Lockdown 4.0 in Delhi — between May 18 and 31 — saw 10,780 new COVID cases and 363 deaths, which were more than the tally of previous editions combined, as per the Health Department data.
The national capital recorded 1,543 positive coronavirus cases in the first lockdown, 3,320 cases in the second, and 5,159 cases in the third edition of the nation-wide lockdown, resulting in a total of 10,022 cases.
In a similar fashion, the number of deaths due to the deadly virus in the first three phases of the lockdown was 31, 32, and 96, respectively — totaling 159 deaths in total.
The casualties more than doubled in the lockdown 4.0.
However, the increased number of deaths in the fourth edition was also due to the late reporting of deaths by the hospitals, a Health Department official said.
“The hospitals were not reporting the deaths in a timely manner. However, after the government directed, the deaths which occurred in the last 35-40 days were also reported, which contributed to the rise in toll,” the official told IANS.
It is significant to note that as the restrictions were gradually relaxed through the consequent lockdown phases, the number of cases and death also increased in the national capital.
In the first lockdown (March 25 – April 14), when only essential services were allowed to function and an almost complete restriction on movement was imposed, the city registered 73 cases and roughly one death per day on an average.
When the lockdown was imposed, Delhi had reported 35 cases and one death. However, within a week, with the Nizamuddin Markaz incident, the number of cases saw a jump.
With the gradual reopening of shops in May and relaxations on the movement of vehicles and resumption of public transport in lockdown 4.0, the number of positive cases kept increasing. Delhi has allowed more relaxation within the city from Monday.
The second edition of lockdown (April 15-May 3) recorded 174 cases per day on an average, while the death average remained roughly the same as the previous version.
The daily average, however, in lockdown 3.0 was about 369 cases, and over six deaths reported daily.
Similarly, lockdown 4.0 saw about 26 deaths per day on an average — over four times of the deaths reported in lockdown 3.0 between May 4 and 17.
The per-day average of positive cases in the lockdown 4.0, at 770, was also more than double of the average in the lockdown 3.0 at 369.
The total coronavirus cases in the city stood at 20,834 while the death toll mounted to 523 as of Monday.
