41 per cent deaths in rural Haryana during second surge

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 26

Around 41 per cent of the total Covid deaths in Haryana during the second wave of infection occurred in rural areas, according to the state Health Department data.

From April 5 to May 23, 4,321 Covid deaths were reported in the state and 1,773 of these (41 per cent) had occurred in rural areas.

From the start of the pandemic to April 4 this year, the deaths in rural areas (964) comprised 30.2 per cent of the Covid toll (3,191) across the state.

In fact, the rural areas witnessed a surge of 83.9 per cent in Covid deaths from April 5 to May 23, as compared with the figures since the start of the pandemic till April 4. The villages in Mahendragarh district are the worst affected with 81.4 per cent of the total Covid deaths taking place there during the second wave. Of the 86 deaths in the district from April 5 to May 23, 70 occurred in rural areas. On the other hand, around 38 per cent of the total Covid deaths in the district were reported in villages till April 4.

In Charkhi Dadri, deaths in rural areas stood at 79.4 per cent during the second wave, while the figure was 65.4 per cent till April 4.

Rural areas of Kaithal have a share of 68.9 per cent in total deaths, while Bhiwani saw 62.3 per cent deaths in villages in the same period.

Fatehabad witnessed a jump from 33.6 to 59.8 per cent during the second wave. The villages of Jhajjar and Hisar had a share of 54.7 per cent and 54.3 per cent, respectively, in total deaths.

“The infection seems to have reached villages. The challenge is that there is a stigma attached with Covid in rural areas. There is also a lack of awareness,” said Dr Dhruv Chaudhary, state nodal officer for Covid and senior Professor and Head of the Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, PGIMS, Rohtak.

Health Minister Anil Vij said, “We have been screening the rural population. It was done earlier also.” The screening started on May 15. Till May 25, 1.1 crore persons had been screened. In all, 83,892 tests were conducted and 3,003 were found positive.