Goa: Even with Covid, March-August deaths this year fewer than 2019

PANAJI: Statistics released by the state government have revealed that Goa’s total mortality rate from March to August (the first six months of the pandemic) this year was less that the corresponding period of 2019.

The six months this year saw a mortality rate of 4.08%, with 6,404 deaths, as opposed to the 6,633 deaths during the same period last year, at a rate of 4.26.
However, the statistics make no mention of cause of deaths. For instance, it doesn’t take into account the long lockdown which brought road traffic accident fatalities down by 25%. One senior doctor at GMC told TOI it would be interesting to know how many people died due to pneumonia before the pandemic arrived in corresponding periods.
“I’m sure the number of pneumonia deaths since March will be much higher than before,” he said.
“The deaths due to pneumonia (now called Covid pneumonia) would be around 60% higher.”
On Saturday, Goa’s Covid death toll touched the 500-mark as eight more people succumbed to the virus. Of these, 235 were reported in September. As many as 70 deaths have been reported till October 10.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant had said on Friday that there was no variation in the mortality rate during the first six months prior to the pandemic and the six months of the pandemic.
A senior doctor attached to Goa Medical College (GMC) and hospital, Bambolim, said it needs to be seen through what prism the death statistics are read. The government may be dishing out data to quell panic among people, he said.
“It is a fact that people having co-morbid conditions and those above 60 years of age are still vulnerable to the virus,” he said, adding that
The doctor said that the virus has to be dealt with seriously since even after cure, people face longterm effects of the disease, as well as the chance of reinfection.