Amid the surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Monday attributed the high death rate from coronavirus to the pollution caused by stubble burning in the past months. Jain added that he expects a downtrend in the COVID-19 deaths in the coming two-three weeks. 

Delhi on Sunday recorded 6,746 cases of coronavirus, a positivity rate of 12.29% and 121 people died from COVID-19, pushing the death toll to 8,391. 

The health minister said pollution, caused by stubble burning, led to problems in breathing and it aggravated the seriousness of infection in people with COVID-19 disease. 

“There was heavy pollution due to stubble-burning amid the COVID-19 pandemic and it came as a double attack. Since the pollution due to stubble-burning is less now, the downtrend in deaths will be there in a few weeks,” Jain said.

With 121 people dying from the disease on Sunday, it was the fifth time in 11 days that deaths crossed the 100-mark in Delhi. The authorities reported 111 deaths on Saturday, 118 on Friday, 131 on November 18, the highest till date, and 104 on November 12.

The national capital has reported a death rate of 1.58% among COVID-19 patients against the national fatality rate of 1.48%.

Jain said the number of new COVID-19 cases as well as the positivity rate are gradually going down in the city, which shows that the situation is improving. 

The positivity rate has come down to over 12% since November 7, when it was more than 15%.

He said 9,418 hospital beds have been occupied by COVID-19 patients in Delhi currently, whereas 7,900 are still vacant.