India on Wednesday recorded its highest single-day toll of 4,529 Covid-19 deaths. The country also recorded 267,334 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, taking the total case tally in the country to 2,54,96,330.
The active caseload in the country has registered a dip, dropping by more than 1.27 lakh. It now stands at 32,26,719, which is the second-highest caseload after the US. The top five states which have registered the maximum number of cases are Tamil Nadu with 33,059 cases, followed by Kerala with 31,337 cases, Karnataka with 30,309 cases, Maharashtra with 28,438 cases, and Andhra Pradesh with 21,320 cases. Together, these five states account for 54.05 percent of the new cases reported.
As India recorded its highest daily death count, medical health experts stated that the trend may continue to rise for another week at least before the numbers start settling down in proportion to the number of daily cases.
“It is true that the total number of Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate has declined in the last 10 days or so but the number of deaths is still very high. It is because a large number of patients are still admitted in ICU in various hospitals and because of medical interventions (many may be on rigorous life support) they may survive for many days. However, because of the complications of Covid-19 and prolonged stay in hospitals, they may lose the battle, thus resulting in increased figures of death,” ANI quoted public health expert Dr V.K. Monga as saying.
Experts also highlighted that the severity of the infection directly affecting the standard operating procedures (SOPs) in a very short span, especially the oxygen parameters, is responsible for deaths in the second wave. Variants of Covid-19 spreading in rural India have also increased the death toll. This is also being augmented by inadequate health infrastructure, added the experts.
Dr Rajiv Parakh, Chairman, Vascular Surgery, Medanta, told ANI, “There are more than 4,000 reported deaths taking place and there are many more who have not even been tested and passed away. The death rate in the second wave is high because this time it has struck a large number of the population. The intensity and the mutation capacity have been responsible for the severity. Last time the virus was not as severe and virulent compared to the second wave.”
Although cases pan-India are showing a downward trend with 267,334 positive cases, as per the official data of the Union Health Ministry, the number of deaths remains a concern.
Dr Suresh Kumar, Director of Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital said, “This is a matter of concern because we have seen this for the first time. In Delhi, the death toll is coming down but if we see in other states death tolls are escalating… If we compare with last year, the oxygen level of patients is dropping to 60 percent to 70 percent on an average. We have also seen patients dying while on their way to the hospital. We have seen severe patients who were brought to the hospital when his/her oxygen level is dipping down and are in need of ICU beds immediately and all these are directly responsible for the higher death toll.”
Maharashtra tops the chart of registering the maximum number of deaths with a total of 83,777, followed by Karnataka which has recorded as many as 22,838 Covid-19 deaths since the onset of the pandemic last year. Delhi and Tamil Nadu are next on the list with 22,111 and 18,369 deaths reported, respectively. Compared to India, only the US has had a worse single-day death toll, when it lost 5,444 people on 12 February, a Reuters tracker shows.
With overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums, it is also being said that the official figures for Covid-related deaths do not present the true picture. Some experts are putting the real numbers to be many times higher.
Data from private labs like Thyrocare also seems to support this argument as nearly two-thirds of the people tested across the country have shown exposure to Covid-19, reported Reuters. According to Thyrocare’s data, accessed by Reuters, 63.5 percent of the people tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies on an average over the last seven days, up from 45 percent a month ago.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS