Covid-19: Despite better infra, Bengaluru has higher death rate than Mumbai

Data for the third wave indicate that Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata were able to reduce their death rate, but Delhi and Bengaluru witnessed a rise

Indeed, the second wave of Covid-19 has been devastating for India. The country witnessed over 400,000 daily infections at the peak, and Covid-related deaths at the time averaged over 4,000. The death rate during the second wave, however, has been lower than the first wave until now.

A Business Standard analysis shows that while India reported 1.38 deaths per 100 infections between July 1 and November 1 of 2020, the country has recorded 1.27 deaths per 100 cases between March 1 and July 12 this year.

But this trend does not hold across the country; there is a variation across states. Eighteen of the 36 states and Union Territories reflect an increase in death rate when compared with the first wave. Of these, 12 states witnessed a consistent rise in death rates even during the lull period between November 1 last year and March 1 this year. In Bihar, death rate increased from 0.5 per cent in the first wave to 1.75 per cent in the second. Haryana recorded a 0.29 percentage point increase in the death rate from 1.02 per cent to 1.3 per cent. Rajasthan and Telangana reflect a 0.14 percentage point increase.

Further analysis of death rates across five metro cities illustrates a wide variation in death rates even among cities. Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata seem to have performed better than Delhi and Bengaluru. This was even as Bengaluru, according to the recent Housing.com report ‘State of Healthcare in India – Indian cities through the lens of healthcare’, is placed higher than all other cities in terms of per capita availability of beds.

Bengaluru witnessed 1.1 deaths per 100 infected cases in the first wave, but 1.4 deaths were recorded in the city for every 100 infections in the second wave. Covid-19 infections in the city were 2.4 times higher than the first wave. In contrast, in Mumbai, the death rate declined from 3.2 per cent in the first wave to 1 per cent in the second wave. The cases in the city rose 2.2 times when compared with the second wave. Kolkata and Chennai exhibited a similar trend.

On the other hand, Delhi witnessed a 2.6-time rise in cases and the death rate rose from 1.2 per cent in the first wave to 1.8 per cent in the second.
 

Although it is not clear why some cities performed better than others, Covid-19 management can be one cause. Bed availability in Mumbai was better than Delhi. The financial capital had a better response to the oxygen crisis and did not face a shortage of hospital infrastructure.

While Mumbai conducted 3.5 times more tests in the second wave compared to the first, the corresponding figures for Delhi and Bengaluru were 2.4 times and 2.6 times, respectively. In terms of tests per million, Delhi and Bengaluru were much higher than Mumbai.