Dramatic jump in Covid fatalities in Bengaluru

Most fatalities had transpired days earlier and had come to the attention of the authorities days, if not weeks, later

As the Covid-19 numbers have soared, so has the number of deaths to the disease.

The disclosure of 66 deaths at once on Thursday’s Covid-19 bulletin matches the 66 deaths disclosed by the government on October 20, which was one of the last high fatalities disclosures since this week. From October 22 onwards, the number of deaths had steadily declined until reaching a low point from January 8 to February 10 when only an average of three new deaths was disclosed daily.

Dr Thrilok Chandra, Commissioner, Health Department, said that one of the reasons for the high death toll was that people were turning up late for treatment.

BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta echoed him. “By the time such people come into the hospitalised system of care, they require ICU support. Many never survive.”

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Dr Chandra explained that the government had now assembled a team to pull up the background of these fatalities to learn why they came late for treatment.

“Once that is complete, we will know more,” he said.

Most fatalities had transpired days earlier and had come to the attention of the authorities days, if not weeks, after their passing.

This includes seven people who died at home without ever being diagnosed in a hospital and an eighth person who died at home.

Nevertheless, Dr Anoop Amarnath of the state’s Critical Care Support Unit (CCSU), which offers treatment guidance for critically ill Covid-19 patients, stated that Karnataka’s Case Fatality Rate (CFR) is still not at alarming levels. “It is below 1.5% which is good,” Amarnath said.

As per data from the state Covid war room, the state’s overall CFR is 1.2%.