JOIN USCovid-19: Not nine, 28 doctors from Karnataka lost their lives in 2nd wave
Hours after Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said only nine doctors in Karnataka have succumbed to Covid-19 in the second wave on Tuesday, the state branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said the number was three times higher and urged the government to extend the insurance scheme to private doctors.
Sudhakar said nine doctors have lost their lives during the second wave of the pandemic, which is one of the lowest among medical practitioners in the country.
The minister tweeted: “Karnataka has one of the lowest mortality rates among doctors during the second wave. Of the 646 doctors, who succumbed to Covid-19 in the country, Karnataka accounts for 9. This is a testimony to steps taken by our Government in protecting Covid warriors.”
Hours later, IMA Karnataka said 91 doctors had lost their lives in the state, with 28 of them succumbing to the virus in the second wave and 63 in the first wave.
DH reviewed a list of these 91 doctors, their speciality and the districts they hailed from.
Dr M Venkatachalapathy, president, IMA, Karnataka, told DH: “Twenty-eight doctors died in this wave alone. Not a single doctor, government or private, has been given the Rs 50 lakh compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package for health workers fighting Covid-19, which was extended by one year on April 20 this year.
“Even the 63 doctors who died in the first wave did not get the relief. We have appealed repeatedly, from the first wave, on the caveat of excluding private doctors from this scheme.
“The authorities of various districts issued directions that all private clinics should be open during the pandemic. But when it comes to giving compensation, why are doctors deployed by the government on Covid duty alone compensated? Private practitioners could have easily shut shop, but they didn’t,” he said.