New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday revealed that as many as 420 doctors across the country have succumbed to the Covid-19 infection during the second wave of the pandemic, and 100 out of these casualties have been reported from Delhi.
According to the state-wise data of IMA, the highest deaths have been reported from Delhi with 100 casualties, followed by Bihar (96), Uttar Pradesh (41), Gujarat (31), Andhra Pradesh (26), and Telangana (20).
The data also revealed 16 doctors succumbed to the infection in West Bengal and Odisha.
"Meanwhile, Maharashtra has witnessed the deaths of 15 doctors in the ongoing second wave of COVID-19," the doctors' association said.
The IMA COVID-19 registry also showed 748 doctors had died due to the disease during the first wave of the pandemic. IMA President Dr JA Jayalal said the IMA maintains a registry-based only on the input of its various branches across the country, reports PTI, adding that the maximum fatalities were reported from Tamil Nadu (91) followed by Maharashtra (81), West Bengal (71), Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (68), and Uttar Pradesh (65).
Jayalal further mentioned that on average, at least 20 doctors are dying per day due to COVID-19. These include doctors working in government facilities, private hospitals and medical colleges.
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When asked as to how many of these doctors had been fully vaccinated, Dr Jayalal told Business Today, "We are not confident about the vaccination status of all, but by the data we got, not (being) fully vaccinated is the main cause (of the deaths)."
"We do not want to release the name list as it is a sensitive matter," IMA President added.
"The second wave of the pandemic is turning out to be extremely fatal for all and especially those who are at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19," Jayalal had earlier said.
The national capital is recently witnessing a decline in the COVID-19 cases after an overwhelming crisis in April.
As many as 2,57,299 fresh COVID-19 infections and 4,194 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed on Saturday. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country recorded 3,57,630 fresh recoveries in the 24-hour period, outnumbering new cases.
The cumulative caseload in India now stands at 2,62,89,290 including 29,23,400 active cases. The death toll mounted to 2,95,525, while the recovery tally reached 2,30,70,365.