Covid-19 case fatality rate in T’puram double that of state

Kochi: The case fatality rate (CFR) in Thiruvananthapuram district is double that of the state. While Kerala’s CFR is 0.40%, in Thiruvananthapuram it is 0.82%.

Even Kannur, Thrissur and Alappuzha have a CFR higher than the state average. While CFR in Kannur is 0.53%, it is 0.46% for Alappuzha and 0.45% for Thrissur. Idukki district, which has very little health facilities, has the lowest CFR — 0.13%.

Incidentally, the number of Covid deaths in Thiruvananthapuram continues to be high even as the total number of Covid cases in the district is lesser than that of Ernakulam and Kozhikode districts.

As per data from directorate of health services (DHS) as on Saturday, Ernakulam district has the highest caseload in the state – 1,25,374 cases — but the number of Covid deaths is 427. Kozhikode comes second with about 1,21,891 cases and the number of deaths in the district is 459. Malappuram stands at the third position with a caseload of 1,19,203 cases and 420 deaths. In contrast, Thiruvananthapuram district, which had seen a surge in cases post-Onam, has reported 1,03,432 Covid cases and 844 deaths.

“The best of the government health facilities are in Thiruvananthapuram and yet the district has reported maximum Covid deaths. There is an urgent need to conduct a study as to why the district is seeing so many Covid deaths,” said internal medicine expert Dr Arun N M, who has been analyzing the Covid death trend in Kerala.

In March first week also, Thiruvananthapuram district saw 14 deaths though active caseload had come down to 2,180. Kollam district, which has the highest number of active cases (4,931), saw eight deaths in the past one week. Kozhikode has the second highest number of active cases with 4,870. The district reported 12 deaths in the past one week.