Nearly half of Delhi’s 86 Covid-19 victims under 60 years old

NEW DELHI: Nearly one out of every two Covid-19 patient who died in Delhi was less than 60 years old, government records reveal.


Delhi has recorded 86 Covid-19 deaths, including 13 reported by the government on Tuesday. Of these, data shows that 15 (17%) were less than 50 years old. There were 26 (30%) who were aged between 50 years and 59 years.

Those aged 60 years and above accounted for 52% of all Covid-19-related deaths, totalling 45 cases.

One common link found in a majority of Covid-19 deaths in the city, regardless of age, was the presence of comorbidities such as uncontrolled blood sugar, high blood pressure, recent history of stroke or heart attack and kidney disease, among others, sources said.

Delhi government data shows 80% of patients who were less than 50 years old and died due to Covid-19 suffered from these comorbidities. In Covid-19 deaths involving people aged between 50 years and 59 years, 77% had comorbidities. Among the elderly, 93% of those who died had comorbidities.

A state health official, who did not want to be quoted, said the audit of case summaries of all Covid-19 deaths suggests a 45-year-old man suffering from uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension is at higher risk of developing complications from Covid-19 infection as compared to a 60-year-old man who has no chronic disease.

However, some of the Covid-19 deaths in the capital were those of young and healthy adults without any history of illness. A 32-year-old Delhi Police constable who died last week had no comorbidities. The state health authorities said it is difficult to comment on the exact cause of such complications and fatalities.

“The young are equally at risk of contracting the infection. But most of them recover faster too. However, there have been many reports of healthy and young person showing disease symptoms all of a sudden and developing severe complications, such as breathlessness. They have to be put on ventilator support,” said a doctor at one of the Covid-19 hospitals run by the state government.

He added that the youth shouldn’t consider themselves invincible and should follow the guidelines issued by the government to prevent infection. As per the government data, 111 Covid-19 patients in Delhi currently require ICU support and 20 others, who are very critical, have been put on ventilator support. “At present, we have enough capacity and infrastructure to handle Covid-19 cases and complications. However, if the number continues to increase, we may have to expand the infrastructure further by roping in more non-Covid-19 facilities to treat patients,” a doctor said.