Rise in per day toll raises alarm as India reports 11,967 Covid-19 deaths in 15 days

New Delhi: Even though the case fatality rate in India is declining every day and as of now it has come down to 2.07 per cent, the alarming fact is that number of deaths are increasing every day.

After analysing the Union Health Ministry's data of the last 15 days, it has come to the notice that the country has reported total 11,967 deaths in the last 15 days starting from July 23, when India has reported 1,129 deaths in a single day.

The total 11,967 fatalities in 15 days account to 29.40 per cent of the total fatalities, which is 40,699 on Thursday after 904 fresh deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours. However, the case fatality rate, which was 2.41 per cent on July 23, has come down to 2.07 per cent on Thursday.

Notably, in the last 15 days, only on July 28, India saw 654 deaths while on remaining days, deaths were reported above 700. When the CFR was reduced to 2.38 per cent on July 24, deaths reported in a single day was 740, followed by 757 on July 25, 705 on July 26 and 708 on July 27.

The each day death toll crossed 800-mark on August 2 when the country reported total 853 deaths in a single day. Of the 853 fresh deaths reported on August 2, highest registered 322 was registered by Maharashtra, followed by Tamil Nadu (99), Karnataka (98), Andhra Pradesh (58), West Bengal (48), Uttar Pradesh (47), Delhi (26) and Gujarat (23), etc.

On August 4 when the CFR was reduced to 2.10 per cent, 803 deaths were reported, which rose to 857 on August 5 as CFR dipped further to 2.09 per cent and on August 6 when the CFR came down to 2.07 per cent, the country reported 904 deaths in a day.

Of the 1,129 deaths reported on July 23, the highest 518 deaths were reported from Tamil Nadu, 280 from Maharashtra, 65 from Andhra Pradesh, 55 from Karnataka, 39 from West Bengal, 34 from Uttar Pradesh, 29 from Delhi, 28 from Gujarat, 14 from Madhya Pradesh and 10 from J&K, etc.

Of the 904 deaths reported on August 6, Maharashtra reported highest 334 deaths, followed by Tamil Nadu (112), Karnataka (100), Andhra Pradesh (77), West Bengal (61), Uttar Pradesh (40), Punjab (29), Gujarat (23), Madhya Pradesh (17), etc.

As per experts, the trend is alarming as the impact of any pandemic is evaluated by the number of deaths. "The lower case fatality rate is impressive. It indicates that the COVID-19 containment strategies are working well, but the increase in the number of deaths raises an alarm. If it (deaths) continue to rise, the situation may turn in a different way," experts have opined.