Fatalities up 77% in Amritsar, but cause in 3,000 victims unknown

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 5

With 3,749 persons dying in April and May this year, Amritsar has registered 77.34 per cent increase in the death rate against the corresponding months last year, which reported 2,114 deaths.

As per the data of the Health Department, of 3,749 persons, 774 died of Covid this year — 286 in April and 488 in May — but the reason for the remaining deaths is still unknown. Last year, only seven persons died of the viral infection in the two months, according to the official data.

Civil Surgeon Dr Charanjit Singh did not respond to repeated phone calls. However, when questioned about the reason for the rise in the death rate, a senior doctor claimed that many persons might have contracted the virus but never visited a doctor. “They may have never been diagnosed and died at their homes without medical care,” he said, refuting the claims about hiding the number of Covid-19 deaths.

As per the data available with the Death and Birth Registration wing of the Municipal Corporation (MC), Amritsar, a total of 983 deaths were registered in April last year. However, the toll rose to 1,749 in the corresponding month this year. In May 2020, the MC registered 1,131 deaths, which rose to around 2,000 in the corresponding month this year.

Though the data for the corresponding month this year is yet to be compiled, the entries in zonal offices reveal that around 1,500 death certificates have been issued so far. The MC staff claimed that entries for around 500 deaths reported at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, Civil Hospital and Community Health Center in Verka were yet to be compiled.

During the first wave of pandemic, the MC had conducted door-to-door screening and contact tracing. The MC control room did more than five calls in 2.5 lakh households through auto-operated commuter calls.

However, during the second wave, no such practice was adopted for mass screening and tracing Covid-19 patients.

Mayor Karamjit Singh Rintu said: “Last year, we were proactive against the Covid-19 spread and yielded good results. This time, the district administration and health authorities did not make such efforts and the death toll rose. Still, there is a need to trace every Covid-infected person in order to take care of him/her and avoid the spread of the virus.”