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'Got to know from various sources': Bihar govt explains gap in Covid-19 toll
As Bihar's revision of Covid-19 death toll has raised several questions on the underreporting of fatalities, the government on Thursday said it came to know from various sources that the number of fatalities could be more.
Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey on Thursday said the government has been working on revising the Covid-19 death toll for the past few weeks after it came to know from various sources that the death toll due to Covid-19 could be more in number. "After consultation with stakeholders, the state government instructed the district administration to identify institutional deaths due to Covid," the health minister told news agency ANI. The intent of the exercise is to reach out to the family members of the deceased, the health minister said.
The revision exercise has resulted in a 72.8 per cent increase in the state's Covid-19 toll. The fatalities have been attributed to private hospitals and homes.
The health minister said the report was prepared in the last 15-20 days and was released on Tuesday. The government, however, has not given any time frame when these fatalities might have occurred.
"These deaths occurred 15 days ago and were only uploaded now in the government portal. Action will be taken against some of the private hospitals," an official said to news agency Reuters.
Following the revision, Bihar's Covid-19 death toll almost doubled from 5,458 to 9,429.
About 38 districts showed a change in the death toll after revision. Kaimur, Saharsa, Begusarai, East Champaran reported over a 200 per cent rise in the toll. While Munger was the only district with no increase, no district reported any decrease in the toll after the revision.
The Patna high court has recently flagged incinsistenct in the death figures reported in Buxar. The figure of the state's chief secretary and Patna divisional commissioner did not match following which the judges asked the government to verify facts from all sources.
