Cancer patient dies in Ghaziabad hospital after testing Covid positive

The patient from Muzaffarnagar, who was 35 years old, had advanced stages of cancer while being Covid positive

The sample Covid positivity rate in Ghaziabad has increased from 2.79 to 3.7% since Covid cases increased in the district in the past two weeks, the health department said on Wednesday, adding that a cancer patient from Muzaffarnagar, who tested Covid positive, died in a Ghaziabad hospital on April 15 due to co-morbid conditions.

A health worker collects a swab sample for Covid testing at a hospital in Ghaziabad on Wednesday. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

“The patient from Muzaffarnagar, who was 35 years old, had advanced stages of cancer while being Covid positive. The death will be reported to Muzaffarnagar health officials,” said district surveillance officer Dr Rakesh Gupta.

On Wednesday, 117 new cases were reported in the district in just one day, bringing the total number of cases in the first 19 days of April to 889, compared to only 133 in March.

Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, there have been 91,475 positive cases in the district, of which 436 are active. There have been 474 deaths related to Covid, but the death of a patient from Muzaffarnagar will not be counted in Ghaziabad, officials said.

The health department’s records show that during the week of April 6–12, the district took 9,691 samples, of which 270 were positive, yielding a positivity rate of 2.79%.

However, during the following week of April 13-19, officials collected 1,6304 samples and found 569 positive cases at a rate of 3.49%.

Earlier in January, the district received approximately 30,000 vaccine doses, which were quickly depleted. Since then, no vaccine has been available in government vaccination centres. According to the Cowin portal, government vaccination centres were shut on Wednesday as well.

“The vaccine stock is not available at this time, and as soon as we receive it, we will make it available to the centres,” said Dr Bhavtosh Shankhdhar, chief medical officer.

According to official data, Ghaziabad district had a target of vaccinating 2,844,305 beneficiaries since the Covid-19 vaccination programme began on January 16, 2021. Until January 6, the district had vaccinated 3,008,932 people with both doses (first and second doses).

However, the slow rate of administering the precautionary and second doses to seniors aged 60 and up has raised concerns.

According to data from the Ghaziabad health department, only 817,939 of 2,487,074 beneficiaries, or 32.88%, have received their precautionary dose. Only 298,653 of a target of 361,791 beneficiaries in the 60+ age group had received both vaccine doses as of January 6.

“The slow rate of vaccination is because people are hesitant to get vaccinated because Covid cases are mild and there is no mortality. However, the precautionary dose should be given to senior citizens and co-morbid patients as soon as possible,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, former president of the Indian Medical Association, Ghaziabad.