One-third of COVID cases & fatalities reported in second wave

Bengaluru: One-third of the total Covid cases and fatalities since the outbreak of the pandemic in Karnataka took place in the last two-and-half months when the second wave hit the State, reveals official data.

The second wave did not spare children, teenagers and youth in their twenties who accounted for a number of infections and fatalities. According to the data, 7,06,449 people got infected, of which 7,980 people lost their lives between March 1 and May 15.

However, since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, 21,71,931 contracted COVID, out of which 21,434 lost their lives. The data shows that 20,206 children up to the age of nine were infected in the second wave which killed 17 of them, whereas 51,673 teenagers contracted the disease, of which 19 lost their lives.

People in their twenties accounted for 1,53,174 infections of which 151 lost their lives. According to the data, as many as 467 people in their thirties, 1,037 in their forties and 1,717 in their fifties died of COVID in the second wave. People above 60 years of age were the worst hit in this second wave of pandemic.

Out of 93,483 infected, 2,198 sexagenarians lost their lives whereas 1,584 people among the 28,658 infected persons in their seventies succumbed to COVID-19. The mortality rate among the people in their 80s and 90s was very high compared to any other age group.

Out of 81,65 infected octogenarians, 674 died of COVID taking the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) to 8.3 per cent. Among those in the 90s, the CFR is 11.9 per cent with 970 infections and 115 deaths. The centenarians, however, were lucky enough to escape the wrath of the second wave of pandemic. Out of 68 infected, only one person died.

Dr Sheela Chakravarthy, Director of Internal Medicine at Fortis Healthcare, said COVID infection and its reaction to the virus causes injuries to the lungs. "Since elderly people have poor immunity, they end up having infections. A majority of youngsters are affected because of cytokine release," Dr Chakravarthy told PTI.