Heatwave Death Toll: 14 Dead In Last 48 Hours, 310 Heatstroke Patients Admitted To Hospitals, Says Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj

The central government-run Safdarjung and Ram Manohar Lohia hospitals confirmed that 15 and 11 more people respectively had died of heat stress while several others were admitted to Safdarjung hspital's emergency unit with discomfort due to heatwave related causes.

Delhi heatwave death toll: Wht did the govt say?

Confirming deaths due to blistering heatwaves, Delhi health minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Thursday for the first time said that 14 people across the Capital had died of the heat in the past 48 hours. He did not, however, confirm the status of 40 suspected heat-related deaths that the state-run Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital reported between June 11 and June 18.

“Around 310 heatstroke patients were admitted to Delhi government hospitals in the last 48 hours, of which 112 have recovered, while 118 are still admitted. A total of 14 people have died,” the minister said.

“Of these 14, almost all of them already had preexisting conditions like cancer or kidney disease, which worsened their condition,” Bhardwaj added.

Referring to the 40 reported heat deaths at DDU Hospital, he said, “DDU hospital has said the police have brought in several unclaimed bodies. It is a matter of inquiry. We have ordered the postmortem examinations to ascertain the cause of death.”

Delhi heatwave: Heavy influx of patients at hospitals

Besides Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and LNJP, 33 more patients with severe heat-related illnesses were also admitted to Safdarjung Hospital’s emergency unit while at least 26 patients are critical and on life support at RML.

To deal with the sudden influx of heatsroke patients, Safdarjung Hospital added 10 ventilator beds in its heatstroke ward on Thursday, in addition to the 13 existing beds while RML opened a dedicated eight-bedded “disaster ward” for heatstroke patients.