The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday stated that 270 doctors have died of coronavirus infection in the second wave of the pandemic so far. Former IMA president Dr. KK Aggarwal on Monday succumbed to the deadly virus, who is included in the list of the deceased doctors in the country.
— Indian Medical Association (@IMAIndiaOrg) May 18, 2021
Bihar saw the maximum number of 78 deaths of medical practitioners, followed by Uttar Pradesh (37), Delhi (29) and Andhra Pradesh (22).
According to the IMA Covid-19 registry, 748 doctors succumbed to the disease in the first wave of the pandemic.
“Last year, 748 doctors across India succumbed to Covid-19, while in the current wave, in a short period, we have lost 270 doctors.
“The second wave of the pandemic is turning out to be extremely fatal for all and especially for the healthcare workers who are at the forefront,” IMA president, Dr JA Jayalal said.
A total of 2,78,719 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 82,486 from Maharashtra, 22,313 from Karnataka, 21,846 from Delhi, 18,005 from Tamil Nadu, 17,817 from Uttar Pradesh, 13,431 from West Bengal, 12,086 from Punjab and 11,883 from Chhattisgarh. The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.
According to the ICMR, 31,82,92,881 samples have been tested up to May 17 with 18,69,223 samples being tested on Monday. The 4,329 new fatalities include 1,000 from Maharashtra, 476 from Karnataka, 340 from Delhi, 335 from Tamil Nadu, 271 from Uttar Pradesh, 223 from Uttarakhand, 191 from Punjab, 157 from Rajasthan, 149 from Chhattisgarh, 147 from West Bengal, 114 from Haryana and 109 from Andhra Pradesh.