Verbal autopsy to be done of Chandigarh’s Covid deaths

Giving details, Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, director, UT health department, said this form of autopsy by gathering information on symptoms and circumstances leading to the patients’ death will be carried out soon

The health department has decided to conduct a verbal autopsy of all the Covid-19 deaths in the city..

Circumstances and treatment details leading to coronavirus fatalities will be assessed by the health department soon in Chandigarh. (HT Photo/for representation)

Giving details, Dr Amandeep Kaur Kang, director, UT health department, said this form of autopsy by gathering information on symptoms and circumstances leading to the patients’ death will be carried out soon.

“Consenting relatives will be interviewed on events prior to death and how readily they accessed the health system. Detailed sequence of events will also be noted to seek health information, prior symptoms and analyse how death occurred,” Dr Kang said.

There had been instances when people with comorbidities and other conditions have been requested to stay under medical observation but they insist on staying in home isolation, she added. “In a few cases patients with falling oxygen levels might not have reported on time despite our efforts. So, a proper analysis would be done of each fatality and its cause will be analysed,” she said.

The city has so far recorded 312 Covid-19 deaths among the 19,184 cases detected, suggesting a fatality rate of 1.6%.