Published on April 12, 2021
AHMEDABAD: The death toll of Gujarat in 2021 so far is 202 — at the average of two deaths per day in 101 days. But analysis reveal that the sudden spike of mortality has resulted in 50% of the deaths of the year getting recorded in only two days of April 10 and 11. Till April 9, the state had recorded 99 deaths, whereas on April 10 (49) and 11 (54) cumulatively recorded 103 deaths.
On Sunday, the state recorded the highest ever mortality during the pandemic at 54 deaths — more than two deaths every hour. Out of total, 48 or 90% of the deaths were recorded in municipal corporation areas. Ahmedabad led the tally at 19, followed by Surat (16), Vadodara (7), Rajkot (5) and Gandhinagar (1). On Sunday, the mortality rate (death per 100 positive cases) for the four major cities included 1.3% for Ahmedabad, 1.5% for Surat, 2.5% for Vadodara, and 1.2% for Rajkot.
Sunday also marked the first instance where the daily positive cases touched 1,500 (1,504) for Ahmedabad city and 1,000 (1,087) for Surat city. Cumulatively, the cities accounted for 47% of the daily cases.
“The scenario is getting grim by the day – every new case requires medical attention either at home or hospital. Every hospitalization thus requires medication, oxygen, injections and hospital bed, which is fast running out. Now Ahmedabad city has over 5,300 beds but out of total 40 ventilators and 70 ICU beds were available. In all, the occupancy was over 80%,” said a senior medical official from Ahmedabad.
Data of government-run hospitals also reveals 2,097 patients admitted in various hospitals of MediCity and over 350 in Sola Civil Hospital.
Parth Shastri Archive 