E-Paper
Death registration in May shoots up in Patna
PATNA With Covid-19 pandemic spreading fast and gripping newer areas with disconcerting intensity, the positivity rate has gone up past 15% in the state while recovery has plummeted to 78-79%, increasing the mortality rate
PATNA
With Covid-19 pandemic spreading fast and gripping newer areas with disconcerting intensity, the positivity rate has gone up past 15% in the state while recovery has plummeted to 78-79%, increasing the mortality rate.
There are queues in cremation ghats and graveyards, say those who have performed the last rites of their near and dear ones.
While the figures of Covid deaths come mostly from the dedicated Covid government hospitals, figures of death registration from Patna alone points to the growing fatalities, coinciding with the spurt in Covid cases.
The incomplete figures of death registration in Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) area alone in just six days, from May 1 to 6 (till 2.20 pm), stands at 795, of which 512 were male and 283 female. It does not include the figures of Gulbi ghat since April 30. Similarly, the death registration figures of Bans Ghat have not been updated online since April 23, say officials.
Anup Kumar Sharma, registrar-cum-chief medical officer, Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), said updating figures online takes some time. It is not reflected online as to how many of the 795 deaths are Covid-related, though it is supposed to be mentioned in the register manually, but officials say the figures are quite high compared to normal days.
“There are six places under PMC for which figures are updated online. They include Pataliputra, Bankipore, Kankarbagh, Nutan Anchal, Patna City and headquarters. Some are pending at present, but the uploaded figures so far show 795 deaths registered in just first six days of the month,” Sharma said.
He said that from April 1-30, 1626 deaths were registered online. Of them, 1004 were male and 622 female.
According to official health department figures, over 62 people lost their life due to Covid infection in Bihar in the past 24 hours, including 19 in Patna, while 13,455 fresh cases got reported. The official figures put the total death toll in Bihar so far to 3,139. On Tuesday last, the casualty figures had breached 100-mark in the state, as per health department figures.
A senior official said that the crematoriums were working round-the-clock and it would be difficult to assess the figures of Covid-related deaths out of the total, considering that many deaths are also taking place at home without proper testing or due to difficulty in admission in hospitals.
”Death registration is poor in India as a whole, and more so in Bihar. Besides, the cause of death is often not confirmed by a medical practitioner if the deaths are reported at home,” he said.
