SARI deaths outnumber Covid at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences

Doctors fear that kids, who lost their parents would not receive compensation as they might not have reported as Covid death

Officially, Dharwad district reported more than 318 Covid deaths in the second wave, which has griped the district from April 14, 2021.

However, senior doctors and postgraduate students deployed for Covid duty at the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) here, the biggest Covid centre in North Karnataka, claim that death due to Covid could be at least three to four times higher than the official report.

As per the state government’s instruction, or lack of it, officials did not consider patients who died of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) or patients whose reports did not arrive before their death, as Covid deaths.

At least eight postgraduate students of KIMS and four senior doctors confirmed to DH that during the peak of the second wave (between April 14 and May 20) the institute reported at least 35 to 45 SARI deaths per day, while the medical bulletin issued by the state government reported an average 10 Covid deaths per day in the entire district. More than 30 hospitals, including KIMS, District Civil hospital, and other private hospitals have been treating Covid patients.

The SARI deaths were not even recorded in the ‘others’ section of the official report. Sources said the situation is the same across the state.

A senior doctor and a PG student, who did not wish to be named said, on May 10, 2021, KIMS saw 50 deaths, which was the highest in the second wave, and the majority of these deaths were SARI patients. However, official reports said, the entire district reported just eight Covid deaths on that day.

KIMS Director Ramalingappa Antaratani also confirmed that the hospital during the peak of second wave reported an average of 25-30 deaths including those related to Covid complications. He said that while no patient died of lack of medicine or oxygen, the majority of them died due to late admission. “During the initial days of the second wave, a few patients died due to lack of ventilators, which was addressed immediately,” he said.

S A Hebsur, one of the patients who recovered from Covid after being treated at KIMS said, the situation inside the ICU ward was scary. “I was in the ICU ward for eight days, and every day there were new patients in the beds next to mine,” he said, and added that at least 40 people might have lost their lives in that single ward in eight days. KIMS has dedicated 24 wards for Covid treatment.

No compensation

Several doctors leaked this information to DH, as they feared many children, who lost either of the parents would not benefit from the Union and state government’s welfare scheme as their parents' death certificate would not mention death due to Covid.

“Since the breakout of Covid, KIMS has been issuing death certificates with three columns: Death due to Covid, SARI, and others. If the death certificate states SARI, they may not be eligible for compensation,” said one of the senior-most doctors at KIMS, and added that Covid tests were not conducted on patients who were brought dead to the hospital or they could not conduct the test on them as they were too critically ill and did not survive even for half an hour after being brought to KIMS. These patients were reported as SARI deaths.

Speaking to DH, Dharwad Assistant Commissioner Gopal Krishna B said: “We have not received any instructions from the government to include SARI deaths as Covid. Talks are on at top level to consider even SARI deaths for compensation. However, they are also weighing in on the financial constraints that might arise of huge numbers.”