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Majority of Covid-19 deaths took place in urban segments of Ghaziabad, reveals interim analysis of health dept

Oct 27, 2020 11:50 PM IST

Ghaziabad: An interim internal analysis of the Covid-19 related fatalities in the district has revealed that 71 of the 82 deaths reported so far have come from the

Ghaziabad: An interim internal analysis of the Covid-19 related fatalities in the district has revealed that 71 of the 82 deaths reported so far have come from the urban segments of the district. Officials of the district health department said that dense population in urban areas and nearness to Delhi resulted in the spread of infection.

The assessment of the district health department also indicated that out of 82 fatalities, 54 patients suffered co-morbid conditions. Of the 54 fatality cases having co-morbid conditions, 24 patients suffered at least one disease while other 30 suffered more than one ailments which further complicated the Covid-19 condition of the patients, as per the analysis.

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When contacted, district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey referred the matter for response to the chief medical officer (CMO).

“More deaths took place in urban segments as there is about 80% of population base in urban areas in the district. Also, these localities are densely populated as compared to villages. Areas like Kaushambi, Vaishali, and Indirapuram always had high number of cases due to large working population which goes to Delhi for work. So, the inflow of infection was also high,” said Dr NK Gupta, CMO, Ghaziabad.

“The villages, on the other hand, barricaded their entry/exit points since the lockdown and put up stricter checks on incoming of outsiders. A major proportion of the fatalities also took place in hospitals outside the district where many patients went on their own. At later stages, the use of nasal cannula and medicines like Remdesivir, among other things, brought positive results and many patients who were facing severe conditions recovered,” Gupta added.

At present, the district has a total of 82 fatalities of which 55 alone took place in the month of June. In October, five deaths have been reported so far, according to the state control room figures.

As per the analysis, 28 deaths were of the patients in the age group over 60 years, while 17 deaths took place in age group 51-60 years and 18 in age group 41-50 years. In addition, there was one death in the age group 0-10 years.

Of the total deaths, men accounted for 51 fatalities while the rest were women. The survey report also said that 59 patients who succumbed were admitted to the intensive care unit. Notably, of the 82 deaths, only 39 took place at hospitals in Ghaziabad while the rest were in other hospitals at Meerut, Noida and Delhi.

“Since the Covid-19 infection was new, there was regular upgrade of infrastructure which was used in due course of time. The greater number of fatalities in urban segments were due to spread of infection in densely populated areas. Over a period of time, the case fatality has reduced and the severity of infection has also come down,” said Dr VB Jindal, former president of Indian Medical Association – Ghaziabad.

“Moreover, it was in urban segments that initial set of foreign travellers arrived and severity of infection then was high. Majority of containment zones were created in urban segments,” Jindal added.

At present, the district has a case fatality rate of 0.45% even as the total number of Covid-19 cases has gone up to 18,154.

In order to prevent spread of infection and prevent further fatalities, the state health department officials in an internal communication have directed the district officials to review each death in depth and disseminate the findings to stop preventable deaths in future.

“The state officials have directed us to focus on ways to prevent delays and ensure quality treatment to save lives. We have also been asked to continuously monitor home isolated patients and ensure that visits are paid on first, fourth and seventh day as stipulated. For early testing, we have been asked to focus on testing of highly vulnerable groups like vendors, auto rickshaw drivers, healthcare workers, and symptomatic cases found at Covid help desks,” said an officer from the health department who wished not to be named.

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