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Kerala to update Covid-19 fatality list, says health minister Veena George
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 the 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.
Following the Union government’s announcement of a relief amount of ₹50,000 to dependents of those who died of Covid-19, Kerala is planning to update the fatality list of the state. State health Minister Veena George said the health department 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. There were many complaints that the state was under-reporting many deaths to maintain the low death rate, which is still one of the lowest in the country, below 0.5 per cent against the national average of 1.30 per cent.
“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,” said the minister adding the government will help all families who lost their family members to the viral infection. Many hospitals said they are getting frequent inquires for proper death certificates to identify the exact cause of death.
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 the 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 Centre submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court in this regard.
Kerala on Thursday reported 19,682 new Covid-19 cases with a test positivity rate of 16.14 per cent after 1,21,945 samples were tested, said the state health ministry. It also reported 152 deaths taking the total fatalities to 24,191. Active cases currently stand at 1,60,046 and the number of recoveries has climbed to 20,510.Thrissur district topped the list of new Covid-19 cases at 3033, followed by Ernakulam at 2,564 and Kozhikode at 1,735.
Statistics show cases and TPR are coming down gradually after the state remained the one with the highest viral caseload for more than three months. The second wave of infections aggravated after the Onam festival in August-end. Though it reported high number of cases there were no health crisis or shortage of oxygen in any part of the state.
