The Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public Health (DPH) has set up a committee to “streamline death reports” of novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), following a variation between its records and the Greater Corporation of Chennai (GCC) death registry.

Times of India reported that DPH had recorded 224 deaths in the GCC limits till 8 June, while the death registry showed 460 deaths due to the effect of the pandemic virus.

DPH officials who visited the GCC headquarters yesterday (9 June) found that the corporation’s health officer records showed 236 deaths more than its own records.

This, automatically, pushes the Covid-19 fatality rate in Tamil Nadu to 1.5 per cent from 0.7 per cent as is being reported now. In particular, the DPH had not taken into account the death of 20 persons at the Railway Hospital in Perambur.

The 11-member expert committee, to be headed by DPH offiicer on special duty Dr P Vadivelan, would “reconcile and analyse” the records in a week’s time.

The DPH has issued notices to all hospitals to report deaths to the GCC as well as the department by email. It has also asked GCC to send Coronavirus death reports in the “prescribed formats”.

The daily quoted GCC staff as saying that the deaths were not updated in the State death registry due to staff shortage.

So far, Tamil Nadu has reported 34,914 Coronavirus positive cases. Of this, Chennai accounts for 24,545 of these positive cases.