Difference in the epidemiological and clinical profiles of mortality between the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care hospital of Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Background: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands reported the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) case on March 26, 2020. This study aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical profiles of COVID-19 mortality that occurred during the first and second waves of COVID-19 pandemic and to compare the differences between them.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective cohort study carried out among COVID-19 patients admitted at GB Pant Hospital, Port Blair. Socio-demographic and clinical details were retrieved from the case records using structured proforma. Comparison of the study variables between the first and second waves was done by using Chi-square test using SPSS version 20.

Results: The first wave had total cases of 4994 and 62 deaths, and the second wave had 2734 cases and 67 deaths. The case fatality among COVID-19 cases during the first and second waves of the pandemic was 1.24% and 2.45%, respectively. There was no significant age and gender difference of patients between the two waves. Those who had co-morbidities during the first wave were 52 (83.8%), and those who had co-morbidities during the second wave were 45 (67.2%). The median duration of hospital stay in days during the first and second waves of the pandemic was 4 and 6 days, respectively.

Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the age and gender distribution between the two waves; however, those who died during the second wave had a significantly higher percentage of co-morbidities. Therefore, health policy makers should develop a targeted approach to provide appropriate education, support, and awareness of patients with underlying diseases and allocate health care resources accordingly.