Covid fatalities in May equal to the deaths in the whole of 2020

Bengaluru: Karnataka reported around as many deaths in May as it did in the entire year of 2020 at a daily average of 444. These deaths were logged in just 26 days.

More than 11,400 deaths were reported until May 26, whereas, a total of 12,090 deaths were reported between March and December the previous year. At the current rate, Karnataka is likely to cross the 12,000 mark for the month in the coming two days. Even if the daily average decreases slightly, the state would still end this month with more deaths than the whole of 2020.

The two remains for the continuing deaths despite stringent measures and revised testing policies is that, firstly, the patients usually die during the second week of the infection and the pandemic reached the peak in mid-May, so, the number of deaths remains high. Secondly, the state has been reconciling data, especially in Bengaluru for the past few days due to an earlier backlog.

It means many deaths reported are from the last month. This could result in some of the deaths that occurred in May not be making it into the official records, signalling that daily death could remain high for a few more days.

As of May 26. Karnataka witnessed 26,929 deaths, which is inclusive of 12,148 in Bengaluru. There were 11,406 deaths between May 1 and 26 which is 285% higher than the whole of April which logged 2,956 deaths. Bengaluru accounts for 45% of the overall reported deaths till now, followed by Mysuru with early 6% or 1,538 deaths and Ballari with around 5% or 1,538 deaths.

Apart from this, eight other districts have more than 500 deaths each. Out of these four- Tumakuru (844), Hassan (855), Dakshina Kannada (882), and Dharwad (892)- have more than 800 deaths each. Kalaburagi and Shivamogga have more than 700 deaths each, whereas, Bengaluru Rural and Uttara Kannada have between 500 and 700 deaths. Only Yadgir and Chitradurga have less than 200 deaths till now.