Health authorities in Goa have defended their record of treating patients of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the coastal state, claiming they have the lowest fatality rate in the country.

Speaking at a press conference Dr Uday Kakodkar, the nodal officer of the state’s dedicated Covid-19 hospital, said the death rate of admitted patients, those with severe symptoms and comorbidities, stood at 5.77% while the overall fatality rate was less than 1%.

“Till date at the Covid hospital, we have had 1,126 admissions of which 65 persons have died. These are people who would have died Covid or no Covid. They had hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease and all the other morbidities and Covid put them in fast forward gear. Just because of Covid they came to us, else they would have gone to the many (private) hospitals and died over there,” Kakodkar said.

“Importantly, we have been able to cure 75% of our critical patients, which is a very high number and we are on par with any hospital in India,” Kadodkar added.

The hospital has also conducted 32 caesarean surgeries on pregnant women who had tested positive, seven normal deliveries, two orthopaedic surgeries and two general surgeries. Plasma therapy has also been given to a total of 14 critically ill patients of whom 2 have already recovered and have tested negative, he added.

The Goa government has been under pressure from opposition parties over its handling of the pandemic in the state, where 93 people have succumbed and the number of cases registered has touched 10,970 of which 3,720 are active cases. There were 476 fresh cases on Friday.

“Health minister Vishwajeet Rane has not only failed to control the spike in the pandemic in Goa but also has been lying consistently since March 2020 about his department’s preparedness to control the pandemic and the actual number of cases in Goa,” Girish Chodankar, the president of the Congress’ Goa unit, said.

“The BJP should own up and admit to Goans for having lied to them that Goa was COVID-free and apologise for the spike in such a high number of cases despite claiming and parading on all media that Goa is Covid-free,” Chodankar said.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), too, hit out the ruling government.

“The government’s lack of vision to anticipate growth in the number of cases and total unpreparedness has resulted in such a chaotic situation that patients with several other ailments who need medical attention have been left to fend for themselves as they are shunned upon even in the GMC,” Pradeep Padgaonkar, the AAP’s secretary, said.