Although Bengaluru Urban contributes nearly half of the total COVID-19 cases and deaths in the State, the case fatality rate (CFR) is actually higher in some other districts.
At 2%, the CFR in Bengaluru Urban is the same as the State average as of July 24. While Mysuru and Bidar have 4% and 3.87% respectively [almost double that of Bengaluru Urban], Haveri, Bagalkot and Tumakuru have a CFR between 3.3% and 3.8%.
Apart from these districts, at least eight more have a CFR higher than that Bengaluru Urban. Here, the CFR ranges between 2.2% and 2.9%.
However, in terms of deaths per million, Dharwad, Bidar and Dakshina Kannada have reported 37, 35 and 32.7, respectively. These are after Bengaluru Urban where 67.1 deaths per million population have been reported.
Yadgir has the lowest CFR as well as deaths per million. Although this backward district has reported 1,864 cases till July 24, the CFR here is 0.05 and the deaths per million is 0.7.
The high CFR in districts that have a low caseload is mainly due to late reporting by patients. It also reflects on the medical infrastructure and the quality of care available in such districts, said experts.
Giridhara R. Babu, member of the State's COVID-19 technical advisory committee, said a high CFR indicates that there is a need to step up testing in those districts.
“While in Bengaluru, one positive case is being detected in every five persons tested, in Bidar it is one in eight persons. The overall prognosis is better in districts where fewer deaths are reported. For example, Yadgir and Mandya have a CFR of 0.05% and 0.84 % respectively. This indicates that more young people are getting infected here and hence the recovery rate is also better,” Dr. Babu explained. “Higher deaths means that a higher proportion of people with comorbidities, especially the elderly are getting infected. This also indicates that patients are not only reporting late but are also shying away from getting tested because of fear and stigma,” he said.
C.N. Manjunath, nodal officer for labs and testing in the State’s COVID-19 task force, said although the number of tests being conducted daily has increased considerably in the last 10 days, there is a need to further step up testing.
“Testing and treating patients aggressively when they have moderate symptoms should be the mantra now. People whose infection starts showing up with fever develop breathing difficulty rapidly even before they get tested,” he pointed out.
