RESUMO
Background The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is continuously evolving and many mutant variants of the virus are circulating in the world. Recurrent waves of COVID-19 have caused enormous mortality all over the world. It is of utmost importance for a health expert to understand the demographic and clinical attributes between the first and second waves of COVID-19 induced deaths. Method This was a hospital record based comparative study of baseline demographic, clinical and laboratory parameters of the first and second wave of COVID-19 in a tertiary care hospital in Uttarakhand, India. The study included all deceased patients admitted to the hospital during the first and second wave of COVID-19, i.e., between March 2020 to January 2021 and between March 2021 to June 2021, respectively. Result The study showed that there were more casualties in the second wave compared to the first, 475 (19.8%) and 424 (24.1%) respectively. There was no significant difference in terms of age. A male preponderance of mortality was evident in both the waves. The median duration of hospital stay was 5 (3-10) days in the second wave, which is significantly different from the corresponding duration in first wave (pConclusion In both the first and second COVID-19 waves, older males (>45 years) with comorbidities like HTN and DM were most susceptible for COVID-19 related mortality. The study also demonstrated that most of the baseline demographic and clinical characteristics which are attributed to the mortality were more common during the second wave of COVID-19.