JAGATSINGHPUR: In yet another instance that raises suspicion on the actual number of Covid-related deaths against official figures, a couple from Kujang block in Jagatsinghpur reportedly breathed their last due to the virus but only one has been updated by the Health department. More than 25 days have passed since their deaths.
As per reports, 85-year-old Malati Guru of Jagannathpur village who was undergoing treatment at a private Covid hospital in Cuttack but succumbed on August 28 and was cremated as per coronavirus guidelines at Khannagar crematorium there. Her husband Dhuleswar (91), who was being treated at KIMS Covid Hospital in Bhubaneswar, died two days later and was cremated at Satya Nagar crematorium. Surprisingly, while two members of a family died after contracting the virus, the media bulletin update by the Health department has reported that only one person from Kujang died of Covid-19.
Sources said, nearly 20 persons from the district have died in both Government and private Covid hospitals but the official death toll of Jagatsinghpur stands at seven. They informed that apart from the seven official deaths, a local NGO alone has cremated six Covid patients after family members refused to accept their bodies. Apart from that, there are unofficial deaths of seven more persons from the district, four of whom have succumbed in Government-run Covid hospitals.
Calling out the Government for under-reporting of Covid deaths, former MLA Lalatendu Mohapatra said,”It is understood that less number of cases will show less mortality rate and a high recovery rate. If those deaths have occurred due to reasons other than coronavirus, why are the last rites being performed silently?”.
Chief district medical officer Bijaya Panda stated that the Health department audits the number of Covid deaths. “We have no role in Covid death report but have decided to review the number of coronavirus deaths in the district,” she said.