After Centre’s ex gratia announcement, Kerala to update list of Covid deaths: Health minister

Medical experts said the state will have to at least double the existing deaths (24,191) to include all Covid-19-related fatalities. There were complaints that the state was underreporting deaths to maintain the low fatality rate, which is below 0.5% against the national average of 1.30%.

Thiruvananthapuram: After the Union government’s announcement to give a relief of ₹50,000 to dependents of those who died of Covid-19, Kerala health minister Veena Geroge said on Thursday that the state government will update the list of the dead.

Kerala reported 19,682 new Covid cases with a test positivity rate of 16.14% after 121,945 samples were tested, according to the state health ministry. The state also reported 152 deaths, taking total fatalities to 24,191 (Reuters)

She said the state will go by the directive of the union health ministry and make necessary changes.

Medical experts said the state will have to at least double the existing deaths (24,191) to include all Covid-19-related fatalities. “It is a fact many deaths failed to get into the list due to weird reasons put forward by the state government. No doubt, deaths will go up considerably if the government follows the latest directive in letter and spirit,” said Dr S S Lal, a public health expert.

There were complaints that the state was underreporting deaths to maintain the low fatality rate, which is one of the lowest in the country, below 0.5% against the national average of 1.30%.

“The state will prepare an updated list of those who succumbed to the pandemic. We will include those who died even after testing negative for the virus after a month,” the minister said, adding the government will help all families who lost their family members to the virus.

“We are flooded with inquiries. Even relatives of those died due to non-Covid complications are also calling us. It will be a herculean task to go back to many cases and pinpoint exact cause of death,” a senior doctor, who did not want to be named. at the Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital said.

Earlier the union health ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research had released fresh guidelines which stated that those who succumbed to Covid-19 at home or hospital within 30 days of testing positive and those who stayed in a hospital beyond 30 days of testing positive and succumbed to the virus will now be counted as Covid-19 fatalities. Later the union government submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court in this regard.

Meanwhile, the state reported 19,682 new cases with a test positivity rate of 16.14% after 121,945 samples were tested, said the state health ministry. It also reported 152 deaths taking total fatalities to 24,191. Active cases are 160,046 and recovered cases stand at 20,510. Thrissur district topped the virus list with 3,033 cases, followed by Ernakulam with 2564 and Kozhikode with 1735.

Statistics show cases and TPR are coming down gradually after the state remained the top contributor of cases for more than three months. The second stage of infection aggravated after the Onam festival in August-end. Though it reported high cases, there were no health crisis or shortage of oxygen in any part of the state.