Covid casualties on rise in Punjab, 7 reported in week

CHANDIGARH: As the number of Covid-19 cases marked a jump in Punjab in recent weeks, so has the count of people succumbing to the virus — a trend which has been consistent since the beginning of the pandemic.
So far in 2023, the virus has claimed 14 lives in the state of which half of the deaths have been recorded in the past week.
Every surge in infection has been followed by a rise in the number of Covid deaths in the state.Sticking to the trend, Punjab recorded the highest weekly cases fatality rate (CFR) in the country, which stood at 0.86% against the national average of 0.23%.
Between April 5 and 11, a total of 809 individuals contracted the infection of which seven died – one each in Tarn Taran, Moga, Ferozepur, Ropar, Mohali, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur.
The second highest fatality rate of 0.61% was noted in Rajasthan where six out of 972 positive cases died followed by 0.47% case fatality rate in Himachal Pradesh. A total of 10 patients out of 2,101 infected with the virus in the past week in the hill state lost their lives.
An analysis of deaths reported in the last seven days showed that all the deceased had comorbidities. While two of the deceased were suffering from cancer, the other two had kidney ailments. The remaining suffered from high blood pressure and diabetes. Also, most of them were late in seeking treatment.
The number of deaths is likely to increase further in the coming days as five patients in critical condition have been admitted to level III facilities, while 15 are on oxygen support. Nodal officer for Covid-19 in Punjab Dr Rajesh Bhaskar urged the people to get tested as soon as symptoms surface. “The past experience makes it evident that the majority of patients who seek timely treatment survive as doctors get the required time to treat them,” said Dr Bhaskar. Punjab has a capacity of 9,887 oxygen beds – 4,004 in government hospitals and 5,883 in private hospitals. There are 1,792 ICU beds – 612 government and 1,180 private – and 1,432 ICU beds with ventilators – 481 government and 951 private.