Thiruvananthapuram: Around 13,000 Covid deaths have not been officially reported in the state.
Onmanorama had on Saturday reported that 7,000 Covid deaths from six districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode were excluded from the official list.
Around 6,000 deaths were not officially reported from the remaining eight districts as well. With this, a total of 13,000 Covid deaths have been excluded from the official list.
Kerala's Covid death toll will be severely affected by the Supreme Court ruling asking states to audit their Covid death record. Even patients who die of comorbidities within three months of contracting Covid should be included in the official toll, the apex court ruled. The ruling will be effective on all deaths recorded from March 22, 2020.
The figures from certain local bodies have not been received, while the data till Saturday was not available from some places. When these figures are also added, the number of Covid victims who have been excluded would further rise.
Hospitals handed over the actual fatality figures to the local bodies. However, the state death audit committee that examines these figures allegedly did not include several deaths in the Covid list. Those who developed pneumonia after getting Covid infected and died while on ventilator support were also excluded. It is clear from the records that those who suffered from diabetes, cancer and heart ailments but died of Covid were excluded. They would also be left out from the compensation list. The Supreme Court had ruled that the kin of Covid victims were entitled to ex-gratia compensation.
The death toll in Palakkad district is 1173, according to the health department; but figures from the local bodies show 2571. The official toll in Malappuram is 1,197 but the local bodies’ data is at 2758. In Thrissur, the official toll is at 1390, but the count in the health department's death list itself is 2192.
In Pathanamthitta, the official toll is 431 but there are 933 Covid deaths, as per the figures of the local bodies. The health department says 850 people died in Kannur, while records of the local bodies have 1981 deaths. The official count in Kasaragod is 235, while actual death figure is 741. The official figure in Idukki is 143, while there are 394 deaths in the local bodies' data. The official toll in Wayanad is 227, but the actual toll is 342.
Health Minister asks for report
Meanwhile, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday directed the district medical officers to report within three days if there are Covid deaths that were not included in the official list. According to the official figures of the state government, 13,640 people have died due to Covid till Saturday.