New Delhi: Over the span of the last two months as India witnessed its worst second wave of coronavirus pandemic, the country lost as many as 270 doctors who have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 battle, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) revealed. Of them, 50 deaths were reported in a single day on Sunday. The list of the deceased doctors also includes eminent cardiologist and former IMA president Padma Shri Dr KK Aggarwal who died on Monday. Also Read – Never Exported Vaccines At Cost of People in India, Says Serum Institute
In the first wave last year, 736 doctors had died of the viral infection, taking the cumulative fatalities among doctors to nearly 1,000. Also Read – Karnataka Lockdown: Ballari, Kalaburagi Districts Intensify Shutdown Norms, Ban Movement of People | Check Full List of Restrctions
State-wise data released by the IMA revealed that states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar top the chart with the highest casualty among doctors this year. Bihar saw the maximum number of 78 deaths of medical practitioners, followed by Uttar Pradesh (37), Delhi (29) and Andhra Pradesh (22). Only 3 per cent of the deceased doctors were fully vaccinated. Also Read – Can You Get Both COVID-19 And Black Fungus Together? Here’s What We Know
“The second wave of the pandemic is turning out to be extremely fatal for all and especially for the healthcare workers who are at the forefront,” IMA president Dr JA Jayalal said.
The report comes on a day when India registered strange figures of coronavirus cases, logging the highest single-day death toll at 4,329, and the lowest number of infections in four weeks at 2,63,533. The country’s active cases, too, dipped by 1 lakh recording a fall for the 5th consecutive day.
With the new cases, India crossed the 25 million mark of coronavirus cases, positioned only second to the United States and followed by Brazil.
