COVID-19 death toll reaches 261 in Delhi, total cases rise to 13,418

The death toll due to coronavirus rose to 261 in Delhi on Sunday, while the number of infections climbed to 13,418 with 508 new cases, the Delhi government said.

This is the sixth consecutive day when 500 or more fresh cases have been recorded in a day in the national capital.

The city recorded the highest spike in fresh cases -- 660 -- on Friday.

The number of fatalities rose to 261 on Sunday, the Delhi Health Department said.

It, however, added that the cumulative death figures refer to fatalities where the primary cause of death was found to be COVID-19, as per the report of the Death Audit Committee on the basis of case sheets received from various hospitals. Facing criticism for "under reporting" COVID-19 deaths, the Delhi government recently had issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) for hospitals and other health facilities in the city on reporting fatalities due to coronavirus.

As many as 6,549 patients have recovered or migrated so far, while there are 6,617 active cases, the Delhi Health Department said.

A total of 1,69,873 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the city till date, it said.

The total number of positive patients under home isolation stands at 3,314, it said.

Out of the total 13,418 cases, at least 1,995 are admitted at various hospitals like LNJP Hospital, RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) and AIIMS Jhajjhar, the Delhi Health Department bulletin said, adding that 184 of them are in ICU and 26 on ventilators.

On Saturday, the number of coronavirus cases in the city was 12,910 and fatalities 231.