COVID death rate in 2nd wave twice that of first

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The COVID-19 death rate in the second wave is more than twice that of the first wave in the State. It has come to the fore in statistics of the State Health Department.

According to the State Health Department's statistics, 1,105 people died of the COVID-19 during its first wave from March 31, 2020, to March 31, 2021. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases during that period was 2,18,412. The death rate was 0.51 per cent.

In a little over three months from April 1-July 5, 2021, in the second wave, the COVID-19 claimed 3,578 lives registering a death rate of 1.19 per cent. The total number of COVID positive cases during this period is 3,01,422.

According to Health Department sources, the second wave of the COVID-19 is more severe than the first wave. The sudden fall of oxygen level, severe damage to lungs etc., mark the second wave of the virus. The sources also said that most patients got admitted to hospitals at their late stages in the second wave. Thereby, they left little time for the doctors to treat them. However, now the death rate is coming down slowly. The departmental statistics further says that the positivity rate during the second wave was around 10 per cent in the first part of May this year. However, the positivity rate came down to 2.09 per cent from June 29 to July 5 this year. During these seven days, the total COVID positive cases in the State were 16,501.

The statistics further reveal that in mid-May this year, the Health Department detected more than 6,000 positive cases in a single day, and also 90 patients died of the virus in a single day.

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