Kerala's Official Covid-19 Toll Excludes Over 6,000 Certified Covid Deaths, Reveals RTI: Report

According to an RTI filed by The Times of India, Kerala's official Covid toll declared by the state health department is less by over 6,000 Covid-19 deaths, which have been certified by doctors on the ground.

It is reported that till June 2021, while the state declared 13,235 Covid deaths, deaths registered due to Covid by local bodies as per the chief registrar's office (birth and death) stands at 19,584 with a glaring mismatch of 6,349 deaths.

With the rise in the gap between two death figures, the case fatality rate (CFR) also experienced an increase from 0.36 per cent and 1.1 per cent as per the deaths reported by the health department and registration, respectively.

In another development, the Kerala state government has decided to revise the list of COVID-19 deaths by adding the names reported by the districts.

"Complaints regarding individual cases of exclusion could be raised. Documents such as medical bulletins published by hospitals and lab reports are needed to confirm the cause of death. Even if this data is unavailable, the deaths could be considered as COVID-related," Kerala's Health Minister Veena George said.

Manorama reports that if implemented, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) of Kerala, which is currently claimed as among the lowest in the world, would almost double from 0.46 to one per cent.