Gujarat on Tuesday reported 620 COVID-19 infections as the tally climbed to 32,643 while 20 deaths took the fatality count to 1,848. The State reported 600 plus cases for the fourth consecutive day.
So far, 23,670 patients have been discharged while the active cases are 6,928 including 71 who are aided by mechanised ventilation.
In Ahmedabad, the fatality count has climbed to 1,442 with nine deaths reported on Tuesday while the cases reported in the city since the outbreak are 20,913.
Figures obtained under the RTI about cremations at the city’s two dozen crematoriums have given an alarming picture in May and till mid June compared to the corresponding period last year.
A resident of Ahmedabad and RTI activist Pankaj Bhatt obtained the data under the transparency law from the civic body.
As per the numbers shared by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), there was a massive increase of 145% in deaths in May — 6,147 — compared to the 2,509 in the same month last year.
May was the worst month for the city for the pandemic outbreak.
Similarly in June 2019, 2,523 deaths were reported from all 24 crematoriums and burial grounds in the city while till 18 June this year, 3,380 deaths have been reported.
Officially, Ahmedabad’s COVID-19 death toll is 1,442.
According to medical practitioners and doctors, the actual toll due must be “substantially higher” because of several factors like many must have died without testing.
“We are still in the midst of the epidemic so many deaths due to it must be going unreported. May be after a few months, the civic authority and the Health department must study the data and compare it with the previous year’s to reconcile the virus fatality count,” an infectious disease expert said.
