Covid-19 Second Wave is infecting more Women than Men

By: WE Staff | Monday, 10 May 2021

The number of women infected with Covid-19 has increased since the second wave of infections, according to health department data. Women currently account for 38.5 percent of all infections in the province, up from about 34 percent in July of last year. On a national scale, women account for 36% of infections, which is marginally higher than Telangana's figure.

“We have been keenly observing our ICU admissions and the female patient load certainly has increased, but the percentage of deaths is similar, at 50 percent among both males and females,” said associate professor at Nizamabad Government General Hospital, Dr. Kiran Madala.

“Earlier ICU admission of female patient was about 33 percent, which has increased to 39 percent now. The death percentage being same is a worry. One reason for this is women are generally admitted late and the focus of families may not be the same on them as is for male members, especially in rural areas,” Dr. Madala said.

The higher percentage of females affected, according to experts, is also a sign that the virus has changed its behavior. “Women generally follow Covid-19 protocols and don’t go outside as much as men but women from younger age groups are more vulnerable now,” said ASCI professor, Dr. Subodh Kandamuthan. He noted that while some members of a family may be infected, the percentage of females infected is not very high, but that women should not relax their guard.

On a national scale, gender-wise infection data released by states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, and Jharkhand indicate that Bihar had the highest female caseload, with 42 percent of cases being females, followed by Maharashtra (38 percent), Karnataka (36%), and Tamil Nadu (32%), in June and July 2020. At the same time, Telangana had a 34.3 percent female caseload, while Jharkhand had a 25 percent female caseload.