As the blistering heatwaves with almost no sign of abatement continue to parch the national capital region and adjacent areas, hospitals in Delhi are witnessing a significant influx of patients with complaints of heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Taking cognisance of the aggravating situation, the Centre on Tuesday directed the hospitals to treat heatstroke cases on priority.

In last 48 hours, five people have succumbed while at least 12 have been placed on life support at Delhi's Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital which currently has around 36 patients admitted with heatwave-related illnesses, as per media reports.

In Noida, over ten deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours alone, as per media reports.

Besides Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Delhi's Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) too has witnessed the heatwave-related death of three individuals so far. LNJP Hospital currently has over seven patients admitted with fevers ranging from 106 to 107 degrees, five of whom are on ventilators. Among these critically ill patients, three are over 65 years old.

According to a NDTV report, Dr Ajay Shukla, the medical superintendent of the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital, the mortality rate in heatstroke cases is quite high -- about 60-70 per cent.

"If the patient is brought late to the hospital, one organ after the other starts failing. There is a lack of awareness. A lot of these patients are migrant labourers. Also, the symptoms (of heatstroke) can be easily missed or mistaken for something else. It's only when patients faint that their relatives feel that hospitalisation is needed", he added, as per the report.

In a double whammy, Delhi and its adjacent regions are reeling under a sweltering heatwave condition with the 'feels-like' temperature touching the searing 50 degrees Celsius milestone and an acute water scarcity for the past few days.

With some respite expected from today, the national capital was under a heatwave red alert issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday.