Kapurthala has Punjab’s worst Covid mortality rate

An average of three persons died every day in the past one month, amid authorities struggling to curb the spread of the disease

KAPURTHALA : With an average three deaths a day in the past one month, Kapurthala district now has Punjab’s worst Covid-19 mortality rate at 4.83%, followed by Ludhiana (4.28%) which has witnessed the highest number of cases of infection as well as fatalities in the state.

Also, the death toll in Kapurthala has crossed the 100 mark.

The authorities in the district, which recorded 1,570 positive cases and 85 deaths in the past one month, are struggling to curb the spread of the disease.

On August 17 alone, the district reported as many 621 positive cases and 23 deaths. So far, it witnessed a total of 2,263 confirmed cases and 108 deaths from the virus.

The mortality rate in Jalandhar, which has the second highest number of coronavirus cases among all the districts in Punjab, is 2.67% with 271 deaths. Other districts with higher number of deaths such as Amritsar (269) and Patiala (253) have a morality rate of 2.74% and 3.85% (till September 15).

Moreover, hospitals in Kapurthala district do not have level-3 bed to treat critical patients. It only has level-1 and level-2 beds. When the patients’ oxygen level goes down, they are referred to the Amritsar Medical College with some preferring to go to private hospitals in Jalandhar for further treatment.

The district health department officials have set a target of collecting 1,000 samples daily to detect cases at early stage and control the death rate.

But on Tuesday, the district collected nearly 600 samples.

“One of the major reasons behind spurt in cases and deaths is a lack of cooperation from the public. People arrive late for treatment and it leads to increase in death rate. Many people are not even willing to undergo a Covid test,” a senior health officer.

Deputy commissioner Deepti Uppal said, “Most of the patients who died had comorbidities and they were taken late for treatment. The health department has launched a drive to take sample of patients with comorbidities.”

“Nearly 40,000 people comorbidities have been identified so far. Over 15% sampling has been completed,” she added.

Most of the patients who died had comorbidities and they were taken late for treatment. The health department has launched a drive to take sample of patients with comorbidities. DEEPTI UPPAL, deputy commissioner, Kapurthala