In 2023, 60% of Covid deaths in this state occurred in the first fortnight of April

The state saw over 60 Covid-related deaths since the beginning of 2023. Of these 60, 36 were recorded between April 1-15 while the other 24 were recorded between January-March.

Officials have claimed that most of the deceased were old and had co-morbidities, HT has reported.

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A senior health department official told HT on condition of anonymity that earlier covid-related deaths were recorded in January this year, later deaths were less in February but again saw a rise in March. “The number of Covid-19 cases and deaths have started increasing since the last two weeks of March. With more infections, people at high risk are likely to get infected. This has led to an increase in the number of deaths. ” “The deaths were mainly among high-risk and elderly patients,” HT reported citing the senior official.

In the first 15 days of April, the state recorded more than 1,000 new Covid-19 cases thrice – 1,115 on 12 April, followed by 1,086 on 13 and 1,152 on 14 April. A decline in cases was witnessed on Sunday after the state recorded 650 infections and two deaths, taking the number of cases to 81,55,839 and the toll to 1,48,479. A day earlier, the state had recorded 660 cases and two deaths due to COVID-19. The state’s recovery rate currently stands at 98.11 per cent, while the state now has 5,916 active cases.

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The health bulletin said that since January 1, Maharashtra has reported 62 deaths due to COVID-19 and 70.97 per cent of the deceased were above 60 years of age. Out of the total number of dead persons, 58 per cent had co-morbidities while 10 per cent did not have co-morbidities.

Talking about the total number of cases in the country, India is on record. 10,093 new cases of Covid-19 infection in the last 24 hours, data from the health bulletin released by the Union health ministry showed on Sunday. India’s active caseload currently stands at 57,542 which is 0.13 per cent of the total cases. Amidst the boom, former director of AIIMS, Delhi, Dr. Randeep Guleriasaid that while the country was witnessing a rise in cases, the situation was not going to create panic.

Speaking to ANI, he said, “Covid-19 cases are increasing across the country. But most infections are mild. The hospitalization rate has also not increased. There is no panic situation right now.” He further advised that high-risk groups and the elderly need to take extra precautions.

The former AIIMS director attributed the increase in people to not following Covid appropriate behaviour. “Now people don’t wear masks, wash hands with sanitizers and don’t maintain physical distancing,” he said. Noting that the virus was mutating, he said, “The current increase in cases is due to the XBB.1.16 variant, which is a subtype of Omicron.” “It is contagious and spreads very quickly. It was raining in the last few weeks, which led to a spurt in cases,” he said.

Due to the surge in cases, many are suggesting double vaccination and taking a precautionary dose. However, Dr. Sanjay Rai, Professor of Community Medicine at Delhi’s AIIMS Hospital, believes that at this time the booster dose of the vaccine may do more harm than good. Speaking to ANI, Dr. Sanjay said, ‘Due to mutation in RNA virus, cases will keep on fluctuating. This situation will remain the same in the coming times as well. There is no need to panic because of this. People who get infected with the new variant will develop immunity to the new disease. But more importantly, are the severity, hospitalizations or mortality rates increasing?”

He said, ‘In the initial phase of Kovid, when people were not infected in large numbers, people did not have herd immunity, then they needed more vaccines. But now almost everyone in the country has been infected, after which natural immunity has developed. It has become in them. It is more effective than the vaccine in protecting against any virus. Also, we cannot stop any new web with the vaccine, it only reduces the death and severity. Giving more steroids to prevent infection may do you more harm than good”.

(with inputs from agencies)