Covid deaths increase in Kanpur's rural areas

Kanpur Dehat (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 12 (ANI): As India reels under the effects of the second wave of COVID-19, the situation in rural areas is even grimmer. The villagers of Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat have witnessed a massive surge in deaths claiming that all the recently deceased persons had COVID symptoms like breathlessness and fever.
Mahesh who lost his wife said that the doctor had informed him that she would require oxygen but he could not get it.
"She had fever and she underwent treatment for one week. We could not get oxygen. If we got oxygen, her condition would have gotten better. We could not get oxygen in hospital also," said Mahesh.
A lady who also lives in the village and lost her husband due to COVID-like illness said, "He had fever only for one day. We took him to the doctor and got the prescribed medicines home, but they did not work."
Speaking to ANI, another villager, who lost his father said, "My father was ill for 15-20 days. I took him to the nearby clinic and got medicines, but they did not seem to work. I did not take him to the any big hospital in the city because of fear that they might admit him due to COVID-19."
Jiten Kumar's father Raja Yadav who succumbed to death due to lack of oxygen said, "He died suddenly. He was normal and within 3-4 days he developed a breathing problem. I took him to the hospital, where the doctor prescribed some medicines and asked me to arrange for oxygen. So I got him home and started to arrange for oxygen cylinders but in that time period he passed away. I could not get my hands on an oxygen cylinder."
According to Jiten, approximately 30-35 people have died in the village with COVID-like symptoms such as fever and breathlessness.
Kanpur Dehat Pradhan claims that there have been 25-30 deaths in the area due to symptoms similar to COVID-19 infection.
"25-30 people have died in the village. People reported symptoms like fever, cough, cold and not being able to breathe. Only once, a team from the health department had come to review the situation but nothing happened," said the village pradhan.
He also informed that the nearest primary healthcare clinic is 5 km away and all other bigger hospitals are about 40-50 kms away from the village.
As per Kanpur DM, Alok Tiwari the process of COVID testing and sampling is continuously going on.
"We are continuously tracking and identifying people who have COVID symptoms with the help of outreach workers. There are Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) also who are constantly collecting samples," said Tiwari.
Another villager Divendra Singh claims that no healthcare team is coming to help the villagers.
"There is a huge problem in villages. People are terrified due to cough, cold, fever. No healthcare team is coming here. My brother, Ram Singh has been ill for 8 days," he said.
On speaking with his brother Ram, he said, "No doctor is coming here to check. At least check for COVID."
Reiterating the same issue of no check-up from the healthcare workers or RRTs in the district is taking place, Dinesh Singh said, "Nobody has come here to inspect the COVID-19 situation and to look at the ground reality. In every single house, there are about 5-6 patients and nobody is even telling now that they are ill. People are not going to hospitals thinking they will be isolated. People are scared."
However, according to Rakesh Katiyar, Kanpur Dehat CMO, the administration has so far provided 5,000 kits to COVID patients in home isolation.
"We have 60 RRTs. Most of the patients are in home isolation in this district. In an effort to curb the virus, we have provided 5,000 home isolation kits to people so far. We are receiving around 100 new cases on a daily basis, but we are hoping this will reduce in a month with our efforts. We are also trying that there is no shortage of oxygen. District hospital has 105 jumbo oxygen cylinders," said Katiyar.
As per official data issued by the Union Health Minister, Uttar Pradesh has 2,16,057 active coronavirus cases. In the last 24 hours, 9214 new cases were recorded and 301 people died due to the virus. (ANI)