E-Paper
Ex gratia for post-Covid deaths too
PATNA Post-Covid victims, who died after testing negative or being discharged from hospitals, will also be eligible for ₹4 lakh compensation under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, official said
PATNA
Post-Covid victims, who died after testing negative or being discharged from hospitals, will also be eligible for ₹4 lakh compensation under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, official said.
The state had released ex gratia funds for 3,737 Covid-19 victims so far, but it was not sure how many of them had received it. “We will have to check that and then revert,” Bihar’s additional chief secretary (health) Pratyaya Amrit had said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The government had included deaths due to post-Covid complications as well while revising its cumulative death toll, leading to an increase in the death count by 3,951 on June 8. The state’s Covid-19 cumulative death toll jumped to 9,375 on June 8, as against 5,424 reported a day earlier.
As per the Centre’s changed norms, a Covid-19 negative report was not necessary at the time of a patient’s discharge from a health facility. Patients with no Covid-19 symptoms like cough, cold or fever for three consecutive days could be discharged after 10 days hospitalisation, without RT-PCR negative test report.
“Many health facilities had not accounted for post-Covid deaths. We issued instructions to the district magistrates and civil surgeons to include all such deaths as well while verifying Covid-19 deaths,” Amrit had said on Wednesday.
He, however, did not specify the duration till when such deaths will be treated as post-Covid deaths and the next of kin of the deceased will be entitled for compensation.
The government also did not share the break-up, leading to the built-up of Covid deaths post-verification even as Amrit said the increase was due to deaths reported at private hospitals, in transit to health facilities, under home isolation and those dying of post-Covid complications. He, however, said the government would take stern disciplinary action against lax and insensitive officers responsible for this.
A day later on Thursday, the health department still did not respond to requests for sharing break-up of deaths reported from private hospitals, crematoria, home isolation, people dying in transit and due to post-Covid complications. Top health officials did not respond to phone calls or text messages.
Patna, for instance, which reported 87.48% rise in deaths—up for 1,223 on June 7 to 2,293 on June 8 — saw an uptick of 1,070 deaths, but the district administration did not share a break-up of where the additional deaths had been reported from.
“We verified Covid deaths from different sources, including private hospitals, crematoria, the district control room and other sources,” said Chandrashekhar Singh, Patna’s district magistrate. He did not elaborate.
Dr Sahajanand Prasad Singh, president (elect) of the Indian Medical Association, however, praised the government.
“The state government has done a course correction and it has been transparent enough to mention the actual number of Covid-19 deaths in the state,” said Dr Singh.
