The Delhi government on Sunday issued a show-cause notice to four major hospitals treating coronavirus patients in the Capital, asking them to explain the reason for delay in reporting deaths due to the disease.

“Show cause notices have been issued to the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, Lok Nayak Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital to explain the reasons for delay in reporting death cases violation of the directions issued by the Health Department,” the Delhi government said in its daily health bulletin. “An advisory have been issued to Lok Nayak Hospital to be careful in future and follow the orders/ Guidelines issued by the department in true letter and spirit so that no anomaly in the deaths being reported by the Government.”

While the LNJP Hospital is a dedicated coronavirus facility under the Delhi government, the other three hospitals function under the Centre.

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The Arvind Kejriwal-led government also issued a memorandum to Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital for delay in reporting deaths and violating government guidelines.

The government’s notice to the hospitals came on a day when Delhi recorded its biggest single-day increase in the number of coronavirus cases. The Capital recorded 1,295 new cases on Sunday. Delhi has reported 19,844 cases and 473 deaths so far.

On Friday, the Delhi government added 82 deaths to the Capital’s toll. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said that 69 of these deaths had happened over a period of 34 days and had been recorded after verification by the death audit committee.

Last month, the Delhi government had acknowledged that there were discrepancies in the number of coronavirus deaths reported by hospitals and the numbers that it had announced. However, the government blamed hospitals for not reporting the deaths on time and directed them to provide details of the fatalities to the Death Audit Committee.

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Covid-19: Delhi adds 69 virus-related deaths in last 34 days to toll, total 398 deaths now