2nd surge: Punjab saw 40K ‘excess’ deaths in 3 months

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 2

There were around 40,000 excess deaths in Punjab between April and June this year during the second wave of Covid-19. The number is four times the toll stated in the official bulletin issued by the Health Department. As per data obtained from the Death and Birth Division, Statistical Branch, Directorate of Health Services, there were 88,931 deaths between April and June this year. The figure was 48,834 during the corresponding months last year.

Statistics reveal that the number of deaths started increasing significantly from the beginning of April this year. April saw 24,983 deaths, while the figure was 37,292 in May and 26,656 in June.

However, the official Covid toll during the said months was 9,190. In the same report earlier, the government had said there were over 52,000 excess deaths between March 2020 and June 2021. Thus around 80% of the excess deaths occurred in just three months. The month of May proved most fatal with 20,000 excess deaths.

The state sees around 2.1 to 2.2 lakh deaths due to various reasons every year. However, 1.47 lakh persons have died in the first six months this year. Experts attribute this rise in deaths to Covid-19, claiming that the mortality due to other reasons was low this year.