Uttarakhand CM reviews COVID-19 situation, directs officials to audit every COVID death

In view of the deaths due to Coronavirus in the State, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has directed the State officials to audit each and every death related to the virus and study the reason behind the deaths.

The directions have come after the evaluation of the State's COVID-19 situation in a meeting with all the 13 district officials. Every Covid-19 related death will be audited along with a serious analysis of the reasons behind the death, he said. He believed that if a patient dies in 24 hours of testing positive, then it would be considered as some shortcomings in the observation and supervision by the concerned officials.

People in some parts of Uttarakhand have also protested against the cremation of COVID-19 related dead bodies in fear of the spread of the infection. Rawat expressed concerns over reports of such protests. In assurance, he said there is no risk of the spread of the infection due to the cremation of the dead bodies as the bodies are first sanitised before leaving for cremation. He requested to allow peaceful cremation of the deceased.

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Uttarakhand government passed an ordinance that imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 and jail term up to six months for not wearing masks in public places. The ordinance was passed after amendments in Sections 2 and 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897. The state has also made quarantine rules stricter. The ordinance was approved by Governor Baby Rani Maurya on Saturday.

The latest victims include a 58-year-old woman who died at SMI Hospital, Dehradun on Thursday, a 76-year-old woman who died at LD Bhatt hospital, Kashipur on Friday while two others died on Saturday in Udham Singh Nagar and Pauri districts respectively, a state Health Department bulletin here said. The exact cause of death in all four corona cases is awaited, according to PTI.

The COVID-19 fatalities in the state have risen to 23 while 61 more people tested positive for the infection on Saturday taking state's total tally to 1,785.  A total of 1,077 patients have recovered, while 23 have died and eight others have migrated out of the state. Sixty-one new cases were reported from different districts on Saturday with Tehri being on the top of the list with 23 cases.

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