BENGALURU: After drawing a flak from various sections, the health department seems to have quickly got back to the old format of its Covid-19 bulletin. On Wednesday morning, the department delivered a shock to the public with changes to the format. The department had been releasing detailed information on the patient number, sex, age, transmission and travel history along with district hospital where they are admitted, etc.
But suddenly it decided to do away with all details and stuck to the summary of new cases, tally of cases, recoveries and deaths so far. The changes are said to have been brought about as a bureaucratic decision, with both medical education minister and the health minister denying any knowledge about it. “I was unaware of the change in format. It was brought to my attention by the media on Wednesday afternoon,” said Dr K Sudhakar, Medical Education Minister.
Health Minister B Sriramulu also claimed he did not know of the changes. People raised concerns about the lack of transparency and suspected that the department was trying to hide information that could indicate community transmission. Usually, SARI and ILI cases would be mentioned if the patients had no travel or contact history, which is now missing.
Sesrikanth, a Twitter user, said, “Why this sudden change? This step gives an impression that it is now going out of control.” At the evening press meet, Minister Suresh Kumar, spokesperson for Covid-19, clarified, “We have nothing to hide. The department is finding it difficult to upload everything by 12 noon when the mid-day bulletin is released. Hence, we will be putting out patient details separately, in the form of annexures both in the afternoon and evening.” Health Commissioner Pankaj Kumar Pandey said, “We have to collate so much information, which we are unable to do by afternoon. No other state, in fact, gives all this information.”