Goa’s deaths/million almost 4 times national figure

PANAJI: Goa’s Covid-related deaths per million is almost four times the national average. With 304 deaths as on Monday, the state — with a population of 15 lakh — has seen 202 Covid deaths per million. The corresponding national figure is 55, as stated by Union health minister Harsh Vardhan in Parliament on Monday.
This month, Goa has reported an average of seven deaths a day, completing over a hundred deaths in just 14 days. While the state ended August with the death toll at 195, the first two weeks of this month have seen 109 mortalities.
The state’s poor Covid management, which has drawn widespread criticism, is also evident from the government’s hurry to belatedly convert the South Goa district hospital to a Covid facility. While health minister Vishwajit Rane recently said beds at Covid hospitals are full, social media, too, is rife with photos of patients sleeping on the floor at Covid hospitals.
While the state has been attributing the deaths to comorbidities — including hypertension and diabetes — several of the deceased have been declared brought dead, indicating that testing is not reaching the population. Monday’s mortality bulletin itself reported three of the 14 deceased were declared brought dead, while another three expired within 24 hours of admission at Goa Medical College (GMC).
“At a time when testing should have been ramped up, the state has drastically dropped its testing,” a private doctor from Mapusa said. Goa’s testing dropped from a daily average of 5,000 tests in July to 3,000 in August. This month, the state is conducting an average of only 2,300 tests a day.
For instance, Monday’s health bulletin reported 1,093 samples were tested, compared to 3,707 on August 14 and 5,550 on July 14. Also, more than half the tests now being conducted in the state are rapid antigen tests, which are known for false negatives and thus far less reliable than RT-PCR, the gold standard of Covid tests.
Former deputy chief minister Vijai Sardesai criticised the government’s Covid management, pointing out that it is not focusing on bringing down deaths.
“We should have ramped up infrastructure during the lockdown, but we failed,” he said. “We don’t have beds. The Epidemic Diseases Act allows the government to requisition beds from private hospitals. There are just a handful hospitals treating Covid patients. What are the rest doing? The government should requisition these empty beds to save lives. The government should stop this narrative of holding zilla parishad elections and restarting schools. They should focus on saving lives.”
“The principal administrator of Covid — the health secretary — gets transferred by the government of your own party, at the peak of the pandemic,” he added. “This is a shame. The late (former CM) Manohar Parrikar used to block many transfers of good officers. This is a failure of the government to save its own administration.”