2 more die, Faridabad accounts for 43% of Haryana’s Covid toll

Gurgaon: Two persons with comorbidities died of Covid-19 in Faridabad on Tuesday, taking the number of deaths to 10 in the district, the highest in Haryana, which has so far seen 23 people succumb to the infection.
While the first patient, a 36-year-old man suffering from pneumonia and diabetes, was admitted to a private hospital on May 30, the other, a 53-year-old man suffering from a heart ailment, was admitted to a hospital on May 25 after he suffered a brain haemorrhage.Both contracted Covid-19 during their stay in the hospital, health department officials.
“Both patients were admitted to private hospitals for other diseases, not Covid. They must have contracted the disease at the hospital,” said Dr Rajesh Sheokand, deputy chief medical officer.
Seven of those who have died so far were above the age of 50. Four out of these were above the age of 60. All the 10 patients had comorbidities.
“People with kidney, lung disease, hypertension, diabetes and other comorbidities need to be very careful since their immunity is weak and can be easily attacked by the virus,” said Dr Anil Pandey, registrar academic at Faridabad’s ESIC Medical College and Hospital.
A senior health official said Faridabad was recording every Covid death, resulting in the highest toll among all Haryana districts. “We are also getting Covid cases from nearby districts for treatment and these are critical patients. There have been cases where patients from other districts have died in Faridabad. While other districts hesitate in recording these deaths, we are always transparent,” the official said.
The deputy chief medical officer was not available for a comment.
Meanwhile, in its sharpest single-day surge, 69 more people tested positive for Covid in the district on Tuesday, taking its case count to 485.
The district administration has now added a base layer to community monitoring for early detection of cases by setting up local committees. For every 10 households, one member of the committee has been given the job to inform the government about symptomatic cases and deaths, as well as those who need help from the health department.
Faridabad deputy commissioner Yashpal Yadav on Tuesday directed officials to collect data of ambulances available in the district and prepare a transportation plan to deal with the rising number of cases. He said that clusters of 250-300 households should be made and ambulances should be deployed for each cluster.
Yadav further asked officials to prepare data of Covid patients, availability of beds, allotted area for ambulances, number of Covid care centres and the number of senior citizens in households.