U’khand has highest COVID fatality rate among Himalayan states: NGO

With 37 deaths per lakh population, Uttarakhand has the highest COVID mortality rate among the Himalayan states and nationwide it ranks ninth, far ahead of much bigger states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, according to an analysis by an NGO.

With 3,728 deaths due to COVID-19 so far in Uttarakhand which has a population of one crore, the number of deaths per lakh people in the state comes to 37 which places it ahead of all other Himalayan states including Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim where the ratio is 28 deaths per lakh population.

Other Himalayan states like Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram have far lesser rates of 18, 11, 8, 7 , 4, and 2 COVID deaths per lakh population respectively, analysis of latest official data by city-based organisation Social Development for Communities Foundation said here on Monday.

When viewed on the national scale, Uttarakhand’s COVID death rate of 37 per lakh population places it in the ninth position in the country, far ahead of much bigger states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal which rank 27th and 20th respectively with 8 and 14 deaths per lakh population. Delhi, Goa and Puducherry have most deaths per lakh population, as per the analysis. Deaths of COVID-19 patients of 36 states and union territories as released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare forms the basis of this analysis, NGO chief Anoop Nautiyal said.

Uttarakhand recorded its highest COVID-19 fatalities in a day on Sunday with 180 people succumbing to the virus across the state. ”This is a mammoth number for a small state like ours. This dwarfs the earlier high of 151 deaths reported on May 6,” Nautiyal said.