Worst month ever: 44% of Chhattisgarh's total Covid deaths recorded in April

RAIPUR: April is not yet over and during the 26 days of the current month, Chhattisgarh, among the worst Covid-19 affected states, has witnessed 3348 fatalities -- the highest surge in the casualties amid the raging second wave. The worrying figure makes up for 44.4 percent of the Covid deaths recorded ever since the pandemic started.

According to data from the state health department, so far 7536 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported in the state. However what emerges as alarming is a significant rise in Covid-19 casualties consistently in April despite the complete lockdown imposed across the state since the second week of the month. The positivity rate in the state is 28 percent.

The cumulative Covid-19 figure stands at 667446 with the active cases registering a slight depreciation  --from 1.23 lakh three days ago to 1.21 lakh on Monday.

The recovered Covid patients, including those discharged from hospitals and the home isolation, is 538558.  

"The high casualty figures in the month of April are indeed worrisome though the new cases of coronavirus infections are witnessing a small decline recently owing to the effect of the lockdown," Dr Subhash Mishra, spokesperson of the state health department and director (Epidemic Control) told The New Indian Express. 

He cited the delay in reporting, lack of timely treatment, co-morbidity and changes in the virus variant as factors contributing to the recent spate of high Covid fatalities. 

According to him, Covid-19 has now gripped the smaller districts that have more rural areas.

"As such we don't see much difference between the rural and the urban since the spread now is gradually moving more towards smaller districts where the strict restrictions are apparently less during the ongoing total lockdown besides the continued migration of the villagers across the rural belt," Dr Mishra added.  

Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur are the three worst-hit districts reeling under the second wave of coronavirus infections.