CHANDIGARH: The Centre has termed the high number of
Covid-19 patients dying within 24 hours of hospitalization in
Punjab as "unacceptable" and directed the state government to take corrective steps. According to data shared during the review meeting chaired by Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, as many as 807 people have died within 24 hours of hospitalization in the state.
After touching a peak of 2,896 cases on September 17, there has been a drop in daily fresh cases, which have come down to an average of 480 in the last week. While there has been a decrease in the number of cases, the
fatality rate continues to be high, leaving the experts worried. Punjab case fatality rate stands at 3.1% against the national death rate of 1.5%.
Among the districts having high death rate, Ropar tops the list with a fatality rate of 4.8%, followed by Fatehgarh Sahib (4.7%), Tarn Taran (4.5%), Sangrur (4.2%) and Kapurthala and Ludhiana (4.1%). Punjab has been given a target of bringing the fatality rate below 1% and it has been recommended that a review of
Covid-19 deaths be undertaken in districts having the high death rate. Centre has also suggested conducting a mortality analysis on a daily basis for timely corrective actions.
The Centre has also expressed concern over the slide in testing in the last four weeks. The daily average tests -- both RT PCR and RAT -- have come down to 18,355 from 26,989 tests. There has been a rise in sample positivity rate from 2% to 2.6% in the last two weeks, pointing to the continued transmission of virus. The novel coronavirus has infected 137,445 people and claimed the lives of 4,318 people till November 8.
Principal secretary (health) Hussan Lal accepted that the high fatality rate remains a cause of concern for the state government and assured the central health minister that corrective steps are being taken to bringing down the fatality rate. He informed him that an expert group under the chairmanship of Dr KK Talwar interacts with experts from India and abroad for finding solutions. He also shared the difficulties faced by the government due to rumours and misinformation being spread about the virus and the treatment.
PAT ON THE BACK
The state government was lauded for improving
contact tracing, which has gone up from four contacts per positive case to 12, and for low turnaround time for testing. The Centre also appreciated Punjab for carrying out more reverse transcription polymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests than rapid antigen tests. The conventional
RT-PCR test is considered a gold standard in the diagnosis of Covid‐19 and its results are processed in 24 hours, while rapid antigen tests results come within 15 minutes but have an accuracy of about 70%.