What pushes COVID deaths up in Kerala?

Kochi based rheumatologist, Dr Padmanabha Shenoy has noted that the sudden spike in the number of COVID deaths reported in Kerala was expected citing the trend in the death curve delayed by at least two weeks of the case curve.

Shenoy who has been analysing COVID-19 data told The News Minute in an interview that the media pressure on underreporting of deaths could also be a reason for the surge in fatalities being reported now.

According to Shenoy, the district-wise data does not always co-relate to the number of cases. He compared the covid cases and fatalities reported in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram as an example. While Ernakulam has the most number of cases in Kerala with 2,89,510-60,000 cases, the district has recorded a total of 667 deaths comparing to Thiruvananthapuram which has recorded 2,25,415 cases and 1420 fatalities.

Meanwhile, Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer for COVID-19 told The News Minute that among the three tracks that need to considered while analysing the surge in covid cases in Kerala, there has been a slow but steady decline in the number of cases due to the lockdown imposed as a public measure yo reduce contact.

According to Dr Amar, the ICU cases would be less a week later and the deaths too shall reduce further later now that the surge in cases has come down.

"Kerala has the largest proportion of diabetic people in India, which is also one of the biggest comorbidities leading to deaths, he said. "One of the reasons for many people not recovering is diabetes," he added.

He further said that the treatment of COVID-19 has only gotten better than earlier and asked to not be alarmed.

As of 24 May, Kerala is one of the five worst-affected states in India with 2,77,973 active cases reported

The southern state had caught the attention of policymakers nationwide until May 4, as it never let the daily death count cross 50 even as cases of infection surged. The deaths crossed 50 on May 5, and the number has been moving up ever since, crossing 100 on May 19.

The state's mortality rate is the lowest in the country 0.4 per cent against the national average of 1.30 per cent but going by the recent hike it will be difficult for the state to maintain its low mortality rate, experts said.