VADODARA/ AHMEDABAD/ RAJKOT: How many are dying of Covid-19 in
Gujarat’s cities? One, two or maximum three in Vaododara, going by Covid-19 bulletin released by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) daily. Officially, less than 20 a day in Surat and less than 15 if Rajkot officials are to be believed.
But TOI has learnt that the central Gujarat’s biggest hospital – SSG Hospital – in Vadodara alone has seen nearly 142 deaths in Covid intensive care units (ICUs) in the last seven days. In other words, the government hospital sees an average of 20 deaths a day in its ICUs.
The number of deaths in Covid ICUs in GMERS Medical College and Hospital, Gotri, another major hospital in Vadodara, too is no less. Sources said the dome-structured Covid ICU itself has seen 90 deaths since April 7 while ICUs on fourth and fifth floors are seeing at least 15 mortalities a day.
Together, the toll in these two Vadodara hospitals alone is more than 300 in a week, excluding deaths of Covid patients at private hospitals in the city and its periphery.
In contrast, VMC’s bulletin reflects just 16 deaths since April 7 while the official toll since the onset of the pandemic that started last year stands at 272.
In fact, on Monday, SSG had recorded as many as 30 deaths in its Covid ICUs but the bulletin that the civic body declared reported just three across Vadodara. Nearly 23 of these patients had tested positive in RT-PCR tests, their clinical records state.
VMC’s medical officer Dr Devesh Patel said, “Since the beginning of the pandemic, we are following a system of declaring deaths based on reports of audit committee. We declare them in Covid bulletins after the committee submits their reports to us based on clinical history of the patient and evidence available declares whether the patient actually died due to Covid-19 or not.”
When asked about the huge mismatch between the figures reflected in the bulletin and deaths in ICUs, he said that it is possible as deaths are declared as and when reports arrive.
In Ahmedabad, TOI visited five crematoriums in western city parts where 28 bodies were either being cremated with Covid protocols or were in queue for turn between 1pm and 5pm.
The official toll on Tuesday was 23 but the figure doesn't count the morning and evening hours that records the highest cremations, which sources said was about 80-90 a day.
While official figures are not available for Civil Hospital, the biggest tertiary care centre, the hospital alone records 50-odd deaths daily, said sources, adding that the mortalities in private hospitals and other government-run facilities are easily in the range of 100-120.
"The ever-busy crematoriums are proof of the burden of Covid the city is experiencing," said a city-based doctor on condition of anonymity.
Rajkot has seen 184 deaths in various government and private Covid hospitals from April 8 to April 12. Out of these, the death audit committees have declared 32 deaths, which it says, died ‘purely’ due to Covid. On Tuesday, another 59 people succumbed in the district.
“The government statistics may be different, but the reality is that, on an average, over 170 Covid-19 patients succumb to the virus and their final rites are being performed daily in the city,’‘ sources said.
(With inputs from Nimesh Khakharia in Rajkot)