This story is from August 4, 2020

Punjab overtakes Haryana in Covid-19 fatalities

Punjab’s Covid-19 high casualty woes are fast turning from bad to worse as the state overtook Haryana, which has double the caseload compared to Punjab, in the number of deaths on Monday.
Punjab overtakes Haryana in Covid-19 fatalities
Representative image
CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s Covid-19 high casualty woes are fast turning from bad to worse as the state overtook Haryana, which has double the caseload compared to Punjab, in the number of deaths on Monday.
With 19 people losing their battle against the virus on Monday, the Punjab death toll on Monday reached 442, two deaths more than its neighbouring state where 440 have died till August 3.
Haryana’s overall Covid-19 cases increased to 37,173 on Monday and the overall tally of positive cases in Punjab was at 18,527.
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Haryana has 6,263 active cases — 110 of these are on oxygen support and 20 on ventilator support.
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Punjab fatality rate at 2.4%, has 200 active cases less than that of Haryana
Punjab too has a similar number of active cases — 6,203. Of these, 148 are on oxygen support and 18 on ventilator support. Its doubling rate is 16.1 days, way below the national doubling rate of 21.6 days.
The deaths due to novel coronavirus have been on a steep rise in Punjab and in the last week alone 106 people have died in the state whereas in Haryana only 34 people have lost their lives in the same period. The surge in the number of deaths has pushed the state’s fatality rate to 2.4%, higher than the national average of 2.1%. On the other hand, the case fatality rate in Haryana is 1.18%.

Ludhiana, industrial hub of Punjab, which has the highest number of positive cases in the state also has the highest number of deaths. The district has recorded 115 deaths, followed by Amritsar where 85 people have died so far. In Jalandhar, the virus has killed 55 people and in Patiala the death count stands at 33.
The Punjab health department does not seem to have a definite answer for the state’s high mortality rate. Experts have been attributing the state’s high mortality rate to delay in patients seeking treatment, comorbidities and age factor.
The Punjab health department’s data analysis paints a grim picture — as many as 22 patients go to hospital for treatment more than seven days after symptoms of the virus started showing. In 30 cases, there is a delay of seven days. Similarly, seven patients approached health facilities six days after becoming symptomatic, 34 got admitted after five days and 40 patients sought medical attention three days after their symptoms showed.
Delay in seeking treatment has proved fatal for many. As many as 15 patients died within a few hours of hospitalisation, 33 died in two days and seven in five days.
Majority of deaths have been reported in the age group of 61-70 years in which over 100 deaths have been reported, followed by 75 deaths in the age group of 51-60 years. Lowest number of deaths have occurred in the age group of 1-14 years, in which only four deaths have been reported.
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About the Author
Vinod Kumar

Vinod Kumar is with The Times of India’s Punjab Bureau at Chandigarh. He covers news concerning Punjab politics, Health, Education, Employment and Environment.

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