Concern should be number of deaths due to COVID-19, not the number of cases: Delhi CM

New Delhi, Sep 14: Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said the coronavirus death rate in the national capital is perhaps the lowest in the world and the concern should be the number of deaths due the virus and not the number of cases.

"The largest number of COVID-19 tests are being carried out in Delhi at present. Eleven per cent Delhi has been tested so far with nearly 21 lakh tests. The concern should be number of deaths not the number of COVID cases. Death rate in Delhi is perhaps the lowest in the whole world," the chief minister said in his address during the one-day session of the Delhi Assembly.

He said, "People from all over country are coming to Delhi for COVID treatment. A total of 5,264 people from other states have been treated so far in Delhi. It is a difficult time. Human history never witnessed such a pandemic. We have to work for the well being of the human kind," he added.

The chief minister thanked the Centre for helping with PPE kits, test kits and ventilators. "I want to thank the Centre for helping us whenever needed with PPE kits, testing kits , ventilators...our weakness is that we do not know how to practice politics. It is our biggest strength too," he said.

Noting that the first plasma bank opened in Delhi at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), Kejriwal said 1,965 patients have been given plasma so far in Delhi. "I am happy that 1,965 lives have been saved," he said.