Rural Kanpur, adjoining dists in fever of unease
Households in villages have reported a spurt in fever and flu-like symptoms. In the absence of tests, this illness is a mystery and mostly affecting the elderly, say villagers
KANPUR : While Covid cases have registered a drop in urban areas, almost every household in rural Kanpur, Unnao and bordering districts like Fatehpur, Farrukhabad and Kannauj is reporting flu-like symptoms, fever and breathlessness.
A mystery in the absence of tests, this illness is mostly affecting the elderly. Many instances of people facing breathing problems and dying within hours of fever have come to fore in these districts, said villagers.
Between May 1 and 4, Unnao recorded 1,493 Covid positive cases. Faisal Safvi of Miyagunj in Safipur village (Unnao) said nearly everyone in his village or nearby villages was suffering from flu or fever.
Similarly, Bhanu Pratap Singh of Kantha village (Unnao) said many people died after complaining about respiratory issues and a good number among them were young people.
KANPUR : While Covid cases have registered a drop in urban areas, almost every household in rural Kanpur, Unnao and bordering districts like Fatehpur, Farrukhabad and Kannauj is reporting flu-like symptoms, fever and breathlessness.
A mystery in the absence of tests, this illness is mostly affecting the elderly. Many instances of people facing breathing problems and dying within hours of fever have come to fore in these districts, said villagers.
Between May 1 and 4, Unnao recorded 1,493 Covid positive cases. Faisal Safvi of Miyagunj in Safipur village (Unnao) said nearly everyone in his village or nearby villages was suffering from flu or fever.
Similarly, Bhanu Pratap Singh of Kantha village (Unnao) said many people died after complaining about respiratory issues and a good number among them were young people. Safvi said this was happening in his part of Unnao as well. “The health department hasn’t visited the villages even after being apprised about the developments,” he added.
Bangarmau’s Ankit Shukla said villagers were under the impression that they had caught viral fever. A government doctor stated that the number of such people was rising. “Those who get tokens in the morning get a chance to get examined in the evening,” he said.
On the other hand, 80% of the patients visiting district hospital and health centres were Covid patients, said a doctor at the district hospital. Chief medical officer, Unnao, Captain Ashutosh said the health department got information about some deaths in Bighapur village (Unnao). “The teams have taken samples of people and distributed medicines. The picture would be clear after the reports come in,” he said.
KANPUR
Paras village in Kanpur’s Ghatampur area reported 36 deaths in the last 16 days due to breathlessness and fever while Bhitargaon was seeing three to four deaths every day, said Ashish Sharma, a local, adding many villages were affected by fever and flu.
Dr Kailash Chandra, medical superintendent at Beni Singh Madhav community health centre, said cases of fever and flu were on the rise. “A survey has begun and 219 medical teams with 40 supervisors are visiting the villages and collecting samples,” he said.
Shailesh Singh Parihar, a senior lawyer, said three to four deaths were reported in his native village Jamu every day and many people were down with flu, fever and breathing issues. “I have written to the senior authorities, but there has been no response,” he said.
A similar situation prevailed in Bilhaur, Chaubeypur and
Shivrajpur and hospitals/clinics were receiving mostly patients of flu, fever and breathing problems, said Awnish Yadav of Bilhaur.
“People are dying suddenly, most of them are elderly and the worst part is tests are not being done,” he said.
Dr GK Mishra, additional director (health), Kanpur division, said he did not have any information about deaths in Kanpur suburbs and would be able to comment after getting information from the ground.
FATEHPUR
In ward number two of Asothar Nagar panchayat, 25 people died in less than two weeks. Around 800 families reside in this ward. Lalauli village reported 30 deaths in 10 days while 36 people succumbed to similar illness in Fatehpur city, said locals. Neeraj Pathak, a resident, said people showed identical symptoms of fever/breathlessness.
People complained that Covid tests were not being carried out for diagnosis. Additional
chief medical officer (Fatehpur) Dr SP Johri was officiating as the CMO’s close relative passed away, stated medical teams, which started going door to door to identify patients. The teams comprising health workers and anganbari workers were given tests kits. But Vipin Singh, district president of the Samajwadi Party, disputed this claim. He said mere formalities were being completed and Fatehpur was seeing large-scale deaths.
KANPUR DEHAT
Last week, rural parts of Kanpur saw seven elderly people die in a span of two hours in Sangav village of Roora, said villagers. “As the death toll rises, people are cremating the dead in the fields. People are complaining of fatigue, cough, fever and breathlessness,” said Naeem Khan of Rajpur.
Deaths were also reported from Kandhi, Kausam, Raipur villages of Akbarpur. But chief medical officer Dr Rajesh Katiyar said the health department hadn’t been informed about any deaths in these villages. Medical teams have been sent to these villages for survey on Thursday and they would get the samples collected and medicine kits distributed, he added.
FARRUKHABAD
Panchal Ghat and Singar Rampur Ghat here were accounting for 80 and 50 cremations, respectively, daily on an average — more than triple to what it used to be.
Ram Kishan, who works for Farrukhabad municipal body, said the number had increased from 20-25 cremations in a day. “As only four ventilators are available in the district hospital, people are largely getting treated in their homes and through quacks,” said Tehseen Siddiqui, former chairman, Kamalgunj zila panchayat.
“Every village has this problem. No one is ready to explain as to where these bodies are coming from. In Mohammadabad, people are cremating people in the field, cremations are going well beyond midnight at Panchalghat and resume at 6am,” he said. CMO (Farrukhabad) did not take calls or respond to messages in this regard.
KANNAUJ
The rural part of this district is also swept by flu, fever and breathlessness. “At the district hospital, we are getting 30 symptomatic patients and around 40 post-Covid patients each day on an average,” said chief medical superintendent, Dr Shakti Basu.
At the booth, 150 tests were being conducted and 30-35 people were testing positive on an average. The total number of Covid beds is 112 — 100 at Kannauj Medical College in Tirwa and 12 at the district hospital. Around 120 bodies were being cremated every day at three ghats, according to locals.