As many as 264 doctors have died of Covid-19 so far across the country, according to Indian Medical Association (IMA). Dr R V Asokan, honorary national secretary general of IMA, said with rising cases, number of fatalities was likely to increase by mid October. A dedicated team at IMA has been collating data from over 1,700 branches in India and the same has been sent to the Centre. According to the IMA, till August 21, a total of 1,953 doctors have been infected, including 890 practising doctors, 767 resident doctors and 296 house surgeons. IMA authorities said the cases included those reported by IMA branches across the country, adding that a red alert among the medical community to take care and follow guidelines had been issued. "The government authorities may have their own data, but data on the number of infections and deaths in the medical community is based on what is voluntarily disclosed by our IMA members. Due to stigma, it is likely that doctors might not have reported cases," Dr Asokan said. For instance, Maharashtra tops the list of states with the highest number of Covid-19 cases. Till Friday, the state has reported 6.57 lakh cases and more than 21,600 deaths. Dr Pradeep Awate, state epidemiologist, said a total of 2,032 doctors have been infected so far, of which 1,594 have recovered. As many as 17 doctors have succumbed to the infection in the state so far. Of the 17 deaths, both Mumbai and Pune health circles have reported seven deaths each while one death each has been reported from Nashik, Akola and Kolhapur, Awate said. Former IMA national president Dr Ravi Wankhedkar said the number of doctors infected with Covid-19 could much more than what IMA data indicates.
