Kerala: Add suspected Covid deaths to list, say experts

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health professionals in the state are of the view that Covid-19 suspected deaths should be included in Covid mortality list to conduct studies on cause of death in future. It was among a slew of suggestions made by experts during a webinar ‘Is mortality in downswing?’ organised by Amuseum ArtScience, a forum for art and science.
The webinar pointed out that Covid deaths in Kerala were much lower than other states and even if the suspected Covid cases are included in the list, the mortality rate would be less than 0.8%.
“Covid mortality rate in other countries is more than 3%. And in India it is 1.5%, meanwhile the death rate recorded in Kerala is only 0.4%. Many of the deaths suspected to be Covid have not been included in the list. The number of deaths reported due to Covid in the state is less than 400 and even if the suspected cases are included in the list it will be around 700. This is less than 0.8% of the Covid infected people here. In this situation, all suspected cases should be included in Covid list which will benefit scientific studies,” said Dr N M Arun.
Meanwhile, 80% of Covid infected people in the state are aged between 10 and 59 years. Dr S S Santhosh, another panellist in the webinar, pointed out that the reason for the same is the effective implementation of reverse quarantine. “Reverse quarantine helped to prevent the spread of the disease through contact among high risk category people. We were able to reduce the death rates by successfully implementing the need to wear masks and maintain social distance,” he said.
Alappuzha medical college police surgeon Dr B Krishnan opined that autopsy should be conducted in cases of suspected Covid deaths to study how the virus affects each organ which causes death. “Coronavirus affects organs in many ways. The blood clots in blood vessels due to Covid infection may lead to heart attack. And a study on the effect of infection on the organ will help in the future,” said Krishnan.