Amid the row over the Covid death figures and allegations of underreporting, the State Government on Tuesday clarified that the numbers updated by the Government every day are not based on the casualties reported on a particular day.
Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Director Dr CBK Mohanty said the number of fatalities is announced following an audit at multiple levels. The number of deaths reported everyday is not of a particular day’s fatality count, he added.
Claiming that the Government has not concealed any data regarding Covid deaths, Mohanty said that there was confusion over the Covid and non-Covid deaths earlier. Following a direction from the Government, an audit on daily casualties was conducted to confirm the categories of death, he said. “Doctors were busy treating patients during the peak period of Covid. After the cases started falling, the health professionals made an audit of the Covid deaths,” he maintained. “When patient numbers increased during the second wave of the pandemic, doctors emphasised on saving precious lives by providing them the necessary treatment which was a time consuming process. During treatment, many of the patients slipped into severity while some succumbed. Earlier, there was a confusion to find out the cause of death.
Some people died due to other reasons even after getting infected with Covid. However, the confusion got over after we made an audit on the deaths,” Mohanty said. Family Welfare Director Dr Bijay Panigrahy also echoed a similar opinion saying that every district has their own expert committee which audits Covid death and reports, based on which the Government announces the daily fatalities. “So, these are the audited death report and not that of a particular day,” Panigrahy said.