BENGALURU: With the exponential rise in Covid-19 cases during the second wave of the pandemic, the state is also witnessing an increase in the number of deaths. As of Tuesday’s figures, Karnataka was at third spot in the country in terms of the high number of deaths, after Maharashtra and Delhi.
The state has so far recorded 14,807 deaths, while Delhi saw 15,009 deaths. Maharashtra has so far seen 66,179 deaths, topping the table. After a long gap, Karnataka recorded a huge number of deaths, at 2,036, between April 1 and 25. The highest number of fatalities on a single day was on April 23, at 208.
Medical experts apprehend that the rise in fatalities in such a short span could perhaps be linked to the shortage of beds, oxygen and even drugs like Remdesivir and Tocilizumab to treat Covid-19 patients. Also, many patients opt for home isolation and reach hospital at a very late stage, which is another contributing factor, they said. With the high volume of positive cases, the state is bound to witness a high number of deaths. The focus should be on testing, tracing and carrying out objective triaging at the earliest to bring down fatalities, they pointed out.
Dr Anoop Amarnath, Head, Scientific Board and Chairman-Geriatric Medicine, at Manipal Hospital, who is also a member of Critical Care Support Team, said, “Late presentation and late referrals to the tertiary centres are the main reasons for the high number of deaths. The characteristics of a pandemic are that with a surge in cases, the positivity rate increases and thereby mortality as well.”
He pointed out that the need of the hour is to carry out very objective triaging. “Hospitals need to see who can be managed at home and who needs hospitalisation. If this is done right, then we can save many patients.
A scientific way of triaging needs to be carried out where RT-PCR test is done followed by checking the clinical characteristics of patients for symptoms, saturation levels and biochemical makers. If it is high, then admission is needed at the earliest. This apart, HRCT needs to be done to check the CT score. If all this is prioritised, we can have better outcomes, he suggested.”
Though Karnataka’s Case Fatality Rate has not been on the higher side, in comparison to the other states, the experts foresee it going up in the next few months if proper initiatives are not taken immediately. Currently, Karnataka’s CFR is 1.1 per cent. Punjab has the highest CFR at 2.5 per cent , followed by Maharashtra (1.5 per cent), Delhi and West Bengal (1.4 per cent), Gujarat (1.3 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (1.2 per cent).
Dr Pradeep Rangappa, Intensivist, Columbia Asia Hospital, Bengaluru, and member of the State-Level Committee for Covid-19, said, “If the situation remains the same, the CFR is bound to climb up. We need to segregate the CFR of the first and second waves to get the figures of the current scenario, wherein the fatality rate is quite bad.”