Covid-19 deaths dip in Noida & Ghaziabad, but fatality rate is still high

NOIDA/GHAZIABAD: The number of deaths related to Covid has come down substantially in Noida and Ghaziabad this month, but the case fatality rate (CFR) is still a concern in both the districts.
Doctors pointed out that though Covid beds in hospitals were vacant, the ICUs were full. This, they said, suggested that though fewer patients were turning critical, not many of them were surviving the serious Covid complications.
In Noida, a total of 16 deaths has been reported this month — a huge drop from 143 fatalities in May and 213 in April. The dip in absolute numbers is almost nine times that of May. But the CFR is still high. Even during the peak of the second wave in March and April, the CFR in Noida was 1.2% and 0.7%, respectively. However, the fatality rate increased to 2.5% in June. To a certain extent, this is also because the number of daily cases has seen a massive drop this month compared to the previous two. The total cases in Noida has dropped 29 times (640) this month from its peak of 18,729 cases in May.
The situation is similar in Ghaziabad, where the number of cases this month has dropped 33 times and deaths nearly 12 times than May. Altogether, 458 cases and 19 deaths have been reported in the district this month, while these figures stood at 15,313 and 236 in May, respectively. There were as many as six days in June when Ghaziabad did not report any death. Its sample positivity rate has also come down from 7.45% in May to 0.4% in June, reducing by over 21 times.
However, the CFR is more than double the figure of May. On May 21, Ghaziabad’s CFR was 1.7%, which has increased to 4.5% now.
Doctors said though fewer cases were being reported now, those critical were succumbing to complications. "With cases reducing, hospitals beds lying vacant and cities opening up, it seems like the situation has become normal. However, ICUs in many hospitals are still full of critical Covid patients who have been there for over a month now. Many of these patients are unable to survive the Covid complications. The overall infection has gone down and cases are reducing, but fatalities are still high," said a senior doctor from the Noida health department.
Doctors in Noida remember April 21 as the "Black Day", when maximum deaths were reported. At the crematorium, the situation was chaotic. "More than 50 bodies lined up within hours and our ambulances kept waiting in line. The bodies took nearly two days to be cremated. We had never faced such a situation in Noida before," said an official.