Firefight mode

Officials are scrambling to make up for lost time as Madhya Pradesh reports the highest Covid-19 death rate in India

- SRAVANI SARKAR

ON APRIL 9, as soon as the death of a general physician in Indore made headlines, there appeared a viral video of the doctor. Filmed a week before his death, Dr. Shatrughan Panjwani asserted in the video that he had not tested positive for COVID-19. “I am fit and healthy and have no problems. I am at home with my family and doing fine. Please do not pay any attention to rumours,” he said after testing negative.

His second COVID-19 test, however, returned positive. A day later, Dr. Panjwani, with a history of diabetes and hypertension, succumbed at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences, a designated COVID-19 facility in Indore. There was panic on social media as people felt if even a doctor was not sure of his condition, the risk for the common man was far greater.

The panic was understandable, as Panjwani’s was the 23rd COVID-19 death in Indore (and 33rd in Madhya Pradesh) in less than two weeks. As on April 13, Indore had 362 COVID-19 cases and 35 deaths, while the state had 648 cases and 50 deaths. The only other Indian state to have more deaths was Maharashtra (160).

Madhya Pradesh had the highest death rate (deaths per 100 infections) at 7.71 per cent. The national average was 3.6 per cent. The only Indian city with more deaths than Indore was Mumbai (101). And only Pune (11.02 per cent, 30 deaths) had a higher death rate.