Lack of medical support, no oxygen: Village near Lucknow sees 45 Covid deaths in a month

As many as 45 people have died in the village of Jaggaur, just 20 kilometres from Lucknow, in the last month. The deaths have not been recorded in the files as Covid-related but the patients in the majority of the cases had Covid-like symptoms.

The rural areas of Uttar Pradesh have been recording a high number of Covid-19 cases as well as increasing case fatality rate in the second wave. Reports of sudden deaths are on the rise not only in the backward rural belt but also in villages close to the capital. In Juggaur village, just 20 kilometres from Lucknow, nearly 45 deaths with unusual symptoms were reported in the previous month. Even though the deaths have not been recorded in the files as Covid-linked, the patients in majority of the cases had Covid-like symptoms. The villagers claimed that a majority of sudden deaths occurred due to a lack of medical support, oxygen, and collapsed health facilities amid the recent crisis.