Every fourth Covid patient admitted to Patiala hospital died

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 4

Every fourth Covid patient, who took treatment at Government Rajindra Hospital, died due to the disease. So far, 599 of the total 2,225 patients admitted to the hospital have fallen prey to the virus, reveal the Health Department records.

The health facility is among the only few tertiary healthcare institutes, which are providing Covid treatment, in the state.

The authorities claimed there was improvement in services at the hospital. They blamed delay in admission to the hospital for high fatality rate. Most patients were referrals, the authorities added.

Majority of patients had died within the first 48 hours of admission, which meant they came at a time when their health had already deteriorated, the authorities said. Another factor, which contributed to high case fatality rate, was patients had co-morbid conditions.

Last month, the government had replaced the entire administration at the Government Medical College (GMC) and Rajindra Hospital over high casualty ratio and poor administration. However, the average daily deaths dropped from 12 to five in the past one week. The hospital had reported nearly 25 Covid deaths per day in August.

GMC Principal Dr Rajan Singla said, “High case fatality ratio was due to late arrival of patients. Moreover, around 60 per cent patients at the Covid ward are really sick. Therefore, the ratio is higher. However, the situation has improved a lot. The decline in the average daily deaths is a testimony to it.”