The COVID-19 death toll in Delhi is once again in spotlight with the three municipal corporations in the national capital on Thursday claiming that it had facilitated the funeral of at least 2,098 people who contracted the virus infection, more than double the government has accounted for so far.
With the addition of 101 deaths on Thursday, the highest for a single day, the official Delhi government toll has now risen to 1,085. On June 10, the medical bulletin has said, there were 984 deaths.
North Delhi Municipal Corporation Standing Committee, Chairman Jai Prakash said the East, North and South municipal corporations arranged the cremations and burials of 2,098 confirmed COVID-19 cases and over 200 suspected COVID-19 positive patients between March and June 10.
His count does not include the deaths in New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), which governs the VVIP areas of the capital.
The Delhi government had on May 16 written to the municipal corporations on May 16 to verify the deaths, as there was a mismatch in numbers and a consolidated report from the three municipal corporations were sent the next day, he said.
He said the three corporations report had noted that its numbers were double than the official figures then. "Now, it is June. Still the municipal corporations figures are double than the official figures," he added.
In a statement, Delhi government said it has set up a death audit committee consisting of senior doctors, who are working in an impartial manner, and the Delhi High Court has appreciated its functioning.
"Our hope is that no one should die due to COvid-19. We should stand united to save the lives of people. This is not the time of accusations and we all will have to fight the pandemic and ensure that there is not even a single death due to Covid-19," it said.
Responding to Jai Prakash, AAP's Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh said Delhi High Court had made it clear that they have no doubts about the expertise of the Death Audit Committee set up by the Delhi government in April to analyse the reports and confirm whether the deaths were due to COVID-19.
"If BJP thinks they are above courts and want to play politics, I can't say anything," he said.
Union Health Ministry's Joint Secretary Luv Agarwal said the Centre compiles the country-wide death report based on states' data. "States sometimes take a day or two more in conducting the death audit and if there is a change in number, it is accounted for in the central toll later," he said in response to a question on the mismatch between the figures of the state government and the municipal corporations.
In May, Delhi government faced allegations that it was under-reporting deaths in the national capital, as the hospital count and figures in official bulletins had huge mismatches. The government had then blamed the hospital authorities for late reporting of deaths and issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for reporting deaths.