• Home
• /
• coronavirus
• /
• Life and Living

India: Nearly 600 doctors died of Covid in 2nd wave

New Delhi - New Delhi, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 45 per cent of the total deaths of doctors

Nearly 600 doctors have died in the second Covid wave in the country, taking the total number of deaths among them and relating to the pandemic since its start last year to 1,300, said the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Of the 594 deaths in the second wave, Delhi accounted for the maximum at 107, followed by Bihar (96) and Uttar Pradesh (67). The three states together accounted for 45 per cent of the total deaths of doctors in the second wave.

Other states with large casualties of doctors include Rajasthan (43), Jharkhand (39), Andhra Pradesh and Telangana (32 each), Gujarat (31), West Bengal (25) and Odisha (22). Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, saw 17 doctors succumb to the disease.

The IMA figures, however, could be an under-estimation as it has records relating to just 350,000 out of a total of 1.2 million doctors in India.

Doctors also face several challenges while treating Covid patients, including angry relatives who blame them in case of deaths. On Tuesday, a doctor at a Covid facility in Assam was beaten up with metal cans and bricks by relatives of a Covid patient who died. The incident happened at Udali Model hospital, about 150 km from Guwahati, the state capital. Dr Seuj Kumar Senapati was on duty when the patient succumbed to Covid.

The Assam Medical Services Association and the IMA have demanded stern action against the culprits. The police have arrested about two-dozen of the relatives.