MYSURU: Lending credence to reports of discrepancies in the Covid-19 death toll in Mysuru district, data accessed by TNIE shows a huge difference in the official death count declared by the district administration and the toll recorded in the death registry.While the district administration has said that 1,884 people have succumbed to the virus till June 14, data from the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) puts the number at 3,323.
These numbers correspond to the deaths where ‘Covid-19’ is mentioned as the cause, which can be identified by the use of International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) code corresponding to the pandemic. Sources say that the death count was arrived at after reconciliation and was final.
Sources also added that there are over 600 pandemic deaths from various hospitals which are awaiting registration due to the delay in submission of ration cards, and this may push the numbers further up. This points to a glaring mismatch of Covid-19 death data with 1,439 deaths being unaccounted for. The number assumes significance, especially after the government announced compensation of Rs 1 lakh to BPL families that have lost an adult member to Covid-19.
According to data sourced from the DES, Mysuru district recorded a total of 1,222 deaths in March 2021, while in March 2020, there were 893 deaths. Similarly, during April 2021, there were 1,129 total deaths while in April 2020, it was 699. The first Covid-19 death in Mysuru was recorded only in June 2020. A look at the Covid-19 deaths during the second wave reveals that during April 2021, the Mysuru district administration officially recorded only 150 pandemic deaths while in March, there were just 23 Covid-19 deaths. Experts feel that such a high year-on-year difference in deaths may not occur unless the pandemic deaths are under-reported.
Recently, MLA Sa Ra Mahesh had accused the district administration and the previous district deputy commissioner of “fudging” Covid-19 data, claiming that there were 731 excess deaths in May alone. He produced records of Covid-19 cremations at city crematoriums.
Meanwhile, Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham, when asked about the allegations of under-reporting of deaths at a review meeting chaired by ministers, said that they are in the process of reconciling the data and added that it was not a one- or two-day process. He said their focus was now on containing the pandemic and added that he has asked all hospitals to report every death. District In-charge Minister S T Somashekher, who was also present at the meeting, said that no death will be hidden and that every complaint will be scrutinised.