One of the two inter-ministerial central teams (IMCT) sent to assess West Bengal’s response to Covid-19 has pointed out discrepancies in the number of cases reported, a high mortality rate and questioned the state government’s claim of having surveyed five million people.
The team has detailed the discrepancies in its final observations submitted to the West Bengal government. HT has accessed a copy of the observations.
The state and the Centre have exchanged words over the teams, availability of testing kits and gaps in West Bengal’s response to Covid-19. West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee last week accused the Centre of maligning the state and spreading “canards” about its testing figures when the “real problem” was with the testing kits supplied. She lashed out at the teams for calling officers indiscriminately and hampering the fight against Covid-19. The teams have complained that they did not get enough support from the state government.
In its observations, the team cited the state’s April 30 medical bulletin, saying it reported 572 cases and added that 139 patients had been discharged after treatment while 33 had died of the disease, making a total of 744. “In a communication to union health secretary on the same day, the total number of cases was indicated to be 931 leading to a discrepancy of 187 cases,” the team said. It added the state classified 72 fatalities on April 30 due to Covid-19 as deaths due to co-morbidities. “The bulletin of May 1 and 2 does not even mention the total number of cases and deaths...”
The team questioned the state’s claims of very high levels of daily surveillance in containment zones. “During the stay of the committee itself, over 50 lakh [ five million] persons would have been surveyed in the four districts. Collating and evaluating a database of this magnitude requires very robust systems to be in place. However, no such evidence was available during our stay or field visits,” noted the IMCT leader Apruva Chandra.
{{/usCountry}}The team questioned the state’s claims of very high levels of daily surveillance in containment zones. “During the stay of the committee itself, over 50 lakh [ five million] persons would have been surveyed in the four districts. Collating and evaluating a database of this magnitude requires very robust systems to be in place. However, no such evidence was available during our stay or field visits,” noted the IMCT leader Apruva Chandra.
{{/usCountry}}“The IMCT notes that the state government has on April 30 made a pronouncement that henceforth all deaths of Covid patients would be indicated in the daily statistics and the death certificate would be issued by the hospital with the Committee of Doctors only examining a random sample.” The team called it a big step towards transparency but at the same time added it raised the total death count of Covid-19 patients to 105 as on April 30. “For a total reported number of 744 + 72 = 816 Covid patients, the mortality rate of 12.8% is by far the highest in the country. This extremely high mortality rate is a clear indication of low testing and weak surveillance and tracking.”
An IMCT member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cited the case of a Border Security Force driver, who developed Covid-19 symptoms on May 1 to underline the state’s lax attitude. “He was tested and the result came positive on May 3. But there has been no effort from anyone in the state government to trace the contacts or get his family tested.”
The team reiterated its accusation that the West Bengal government has been “antagonistic” towards it and has not supported the IMCT in the performance of its duties. It added this is in contrast with the experience of IMCTs deputed to other states, where top officials attended their meetings.
The IMCT, which was due to submit its final report to the Union home ministry on Monday, earlier asked the West Bengal government to explain the methodology used to ascertain Covid-19 deaths and whether it was in line with the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines.
The Centre has also deputed inter-ministerial teams to Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to probe perceived lapses in efforts to control Covid-19 and violations of lockdown regulations.