Haryana reported 45,964 more deaths in April, May

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, August 9

Haryana witnessed 45,964 “excess” deaths during the second wave of Covid in April and May this year.

The number is more than eight times the Covid deaths registered by the Department of Health in these two months. As per record, 5,148 deaths due to Covid were reported across the state in April and May this year.

Of 45,964 “excess” deaths, 30,653 (66 per cent) were registered in May while 15,311 (34 per cent) was the number for April this year.

As per the Civil Registration System of the department, 28,420 deaths (12,965 in April and 15,455 in May) were recorded in 2020 while the count shot up to 74,384 (28,276 in April and 46,108 in May) this year leading to 2.18-fold rise in the number of deaths in April and 2.98 times in May.

As far as the districts are concerned, Sonepat recorded 2,641 “excess” deaths followed by Jhajjar (2,569) and Faridabad (2,504). In all, 1,319 deaths (509 in April and 810 in May) were registered in Sonepat last year whereas the number went up to 3,960 (1,051 in April and 2,909 in May) with more than three-fold rise in the corresponding period this year. The heath authorities say only 154 deaths among these were linked to Covid.

Jhajjar recorded more than five-fold increase in the deaths registered in May this year as compared to the last one. A total of 498 deaths were registered in May 2020 in Jhajjar but the figure shot up to 2,678 in the same month this year. As per record, a mere 157 deaths among these were due to Covid.

Similarly, Panipat registered 1,694 “excess” deaths, Gurugram 1,689, Yamunanagar 1,569, Karnal 1,498, Ambala 1,461, Hisar 1,186, Rewari 1,147, Rohtak 1,075, Kurukshetra 1,030, Mahendragarh 597, Palwal 257 and Kaithal 190 in the two months this year as compared to the corresponding period last year.

“The majority of deaths in the state were witnessed between April 15 and May 15 when the second wave of Covid was at its peak. All ‘excess’ deaths are not due to Covid but it was also one of the prominent factors responsible for the rise in the deaths in April and May this year,” said an official.

Dr PK Singh, Additional Chief Registrar (Birth and Death), Haryana, however, said that so far, 12,855 Covid deaths have been reported in the state from April 2020 till June 2021. Of these, 9,478 were Haryana residents and the rest were outsiders.