Hyderabad: Irrespective of what the government says about the Covid-19 fatalities in hits bulletin, Friday turned out to be a shocker of sorts with between 80 and 100 deaths being reported from the state’s two biggest Covid-19 treatment facilities: the Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) at Gachibowli and Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad.
It was reliably learnt that more than 30 deaths occurred at TIMS on Friday, more than one every hour, and most of these deaths were in the wards treating around 600 Covid-19 patients.
There have been constant reports from TIMS that oxygen saturations for many patients was not being maintained because the required pressure in the pipelines supplying the life-saving gas into the wards was not being reached. On Thursday, TIMS had 20 deaths from among its patients.
TIMS, as is Gandhi, is a Covid-19 only hospital.
Meanwhile, upwards of some 50 deaths were reported from Gandhi on Friday, though officials maintained that this was not the case. It was reliably learnt that this was indeed the case from multiple sources. Gandhi Hospital, as do other government or private hospitals do not make public the deaths among their patients.
Officials maintain that not every death is because of Covid-19 and explain about an elaborate procedure that a committee follows to determine the cause of death of each patient. Most deaths are attributed to comorbidities – other health conditions a patient may have been suffering from. When asked if the comorbidities are not aggravated because of Covid-19 infection and in such circumstances, should a death not be declared as a Covid-19 death, officials say that a person is declared as dead from Covid-19 only if the disease is the causing factor.
