Underreporting of deaths due to Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu in the first two months of the second wave – April and May -- is at least 8.4 to 9.8 times than those declared by the state government in its daily health bulletin, a study by an NGO claimed here on Tuesday.
Arappor Iyakkam, which had broken the lid on many scams, analysed the death data available online for six government hospitals spread across the state to conclude that Covid-19 related deaths are being grossly underreported in Tamil Nadu.
The six hospitals whose data were studied are Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital, Trichy, Vellore Medical College, Karur Medical College, and Tirupur Government Headquarters Hospital.
The analysis revealed that there has been an increase of 7,262 deaths in April and May this year compared to the mortalities reported in the above mentioned two months in 2019. The increase in deaths stands at 8,438 when comparing with the data available for April and May in 2020 in the six hospitals alone.
But the media bulletin of the Department of Health and Family Welfare released every day mentions only 863 deaths in these 6 hospitals, the NGO said. It also said over 1 lakh people could have died in April and May in Tamil Nadu if these figures are taken approximately across the state.
“Approximating the same underreporting factor of 8.4 to 9.8 times for the entire state, the likely number of deaths due to Covid in TN may be between 1,08,721 and 1,26,841 against the reported number of 12,943,” the report released by Arappor Iyakkam said.
The report has also recorded a few anecdotal pieces of evidence of how relatives died of Corona and yet their deaths have not been recorded in the media bulletin nor have been given a document citing Covid as the cause of death.
This is not the first time that the state administration has been accused of underreporting Covid deaths – in June 2020 the then AIADMK government ordered an investigation into the issue after which around 400 deaths were added to the Covid toll.
The NGO demanded an independent time-bound audit and investigation into the massive underreporting of Covid deaths.
“Transparency is key to not only find the truth of the situation but also to access the compensation for the relatives of those who died of Covid. Given there are many families which are likely to become ineligible for compensation due to the massive underreporting of covid deaths, the government should make a concerted and humanitarian approach to solve this problem,” the report added.