The latest data by Indian Medical Association (IMA) revealed that India has lost as many as 244 doctors in the ongoing wave of Covid-19 which is wreaking havoc across the country, and a staggering toll of 50 doctors was recorded just in a day.
The youngest casualty recorded is of Dr Anas Mujahid from Delhi government-run GTB Hospital, who died on May 9.
The 25-year-old junior resident had suffered an intracranial haemorrhage soon after testing positive for the Coronavirus and passed away within hours.
Meanwhile, the oldest casualty the association recorded was of Dr S Satyamurthy.
The 90-year-old Satyamurthy was based in Vishakhapattanam and retired as a professor of ENT.
The majority of the doctors who have lost lives in the second wave however were aged above 50 but there is a considerable number of those who were under 45 years of age.
The highest number of fatalities were reported from Bihar where as many as 69 doctors lost their lives to the viral infection, followed by Uttar Pradesh (33) and Delhi (26).
Dr JA Jayalal, president, IMA said that the second wave is proving extremely fatal for all and especially those who are taking head on to the coronavirus.
Speaking on the status of vaccination, Jayalal informed The Statesman that only 3 per cent of the deceased had taken the Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccination was staggeringly low among the doctors we have lost. Only 3% of them had taken the shots,” he added.
Last year, over 730 doctors across India had died due to the contagious disease across the country as per the IMA data but the Union government had maintained, in response to several questions in the Parliament, that it has not tracked the numbers.