Punjab fatality rate drops to 1.8%

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 17

The second Covid wave seems to be proving worst for Punjab, which witnessed nearly 1,600 virus-related deaths in the last one month. Besides, 87,658 cases have been reported since March 17.

Despite such a large number of cases, the number of deaths is almost half as compare to September last year when the state hit first peak and reported around 60,000 cases and 2,000 deaths.

The fatality rate (deaths for every 100 cases) in September was 3.3 per cent. It is now 1.8 per cent, still higher than the national rate of 1.2 per cent.

The outcome of the low fatality rate in recent months is that the state’s overall rate has come down to 2.7 per cent, which otherwise had remained above 3 per cent for almost one year.

Amid the second wave and despite dip in fatality rate, the biggest concern for the state remains a high load of patients suffering from non-communicable diseases. In the first 5,000 deaths attributed to Covid in the state, around 90 per cent were suffering from comorbidities.

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