Chikungunya cannot cause death, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Thursday, insisting this was a fact as it is "on Google". The Aam Aadmi Party leader said the city’s residents did not need to panic and that they should go to a hospital only if they experience symptoms of the vector-borne disease. “One should get admitted only if the doctor advises them to do so and not because they are scared,” he said.

The health minister questioned why chikungunya deaths are not reported across the world, but only in a “selected few Delhi hospitals”. “Upon enquiry, I have discovered that most of the deaths are of people who were aged and already sick with other ailments,” he said. The toll in the Capital from the mosquito-borne disease has reached 11, with a municipal report showing 1,057 cases being reported till September 10.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister JP Nadda said the Health Ministry had not received any complaints of a shortage of medicine or doctors. He added that the Centre was fully prepared to deal with the crisis. The Arvind Kejriwal-led government in Delhi has urged for cooperation between the administration and Bharatiya Janata Party-dominated municipalities in dealing with the situation. Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra, who met Kejriwal in Bengaluru after the chief minister underwent a throat surgery, said the latter called for a united fight against the “disease and mosquitoes”.