India on Sunday reported 3,451 Covid cases and 40 fatalities. The cumulative caseload is 43,102,194 (20,635 active cases) and 524,064 fatalitiesWorldwide: Over 517.10 million cases and over 6.25 million fatalities.Vaccination in India: Over 1.90 billion doses. Worldwide: Over 11.33 billion doses.TODAY’S TAKEWhy doubts persist over India’s Covid-19 death tallyHealth ministers of several states, cutting across party lines, appear to be united in questioning the veracity of the World Health Organisation (WHO) report on Covid-19 fatalities worldwide, with India’s fatality count pegged at 4.74 million between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 — labelling it “fabricated” and “devoid of facts”.But why is the death tally doubtful?
Not the first: The WHO report isn’t the first to question the death tally due to Covid-19 in India. Earlier too, several reports have come out with estimates of India’s Covid-19 death toll that has been at wide variance with the official figures. According to a University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation, India’s fatality count due to the pandemic between March 2020 and early May 2021 stood at 6.54 lakh. A New York Times analysis, based on sero surveys, put the figure at closer to 4.2 million, up to May 24 last year while another study by The Lancet pegged the number at 4.07 million, between January 2020 and December 2021.The gaps: 8% of all deaths in India are never registered, according to government data with just 20% of deaths being medically certified. In certain states like Bihar, Nagaland and Manipur, the registration of deaths with the civil registration system (CRS) is less than 50%. In fact, just one state — Goa — has a 100% record in registering all its deaths with the CRS. The Centre and the states, while dismissing WHO’s report, cited the death registration figures from the CRS to buttress their claims that India’s official Covid-19 fatality count is up to date.Counting methodology: In the initial days of the pandemic, in 2020, only those people who tested positive for Covid-19 and later succumbed to it were counted as pandemic casualties. All those who may have died without being tested, whether at home or in a hospital — testing facilities were limited leading to delays in getting test reports — but who may have shown clear symptoms of the disease, as also those who had underlying health conditions such as diabetes or weakened immune systems due to cancer treatments were not counted as Covid-19 fatalities.Confession: Revised guidelines following a direction by the Supreme Court, to both the Centre and the states to be more liberal in recording Covid-19 deaths coupled with the apex court’s order for paying Rs 50,000 as compensation for Covid-19 deaths led to a surge in claims being filed, which were higher than the official death count in several states, such as Gujarat. Some states, such as Kerala, have in fact regularly carried out ‘reconciliation’ exercises to update their official fatality figures.TELL ME ONE THINGNew Zealand reports first Omicron BA.5 variantNew Zealand reported its first case of Omicron BA.5 variant at the border amid 12,392 community cases during the weekend. The infected person has travelled from South Africa to New Zealand, according to the health ministry.This follows the detection of BA.4 on May 1, also in a person who had travelled from South Africa. It can take weeks or months to assess the severity of each new variant or sub-variant, so the government will continue to monitor the emerging evidence closely.Professor Michael Baker, a University of Otago epidemiologist, told local media Newshub that most infectious diseases don’t decline in severity over time.Sunday’s seven-day rolling average of community case numbers is 7,510, even a little bit higher than last Sunday’s 7,414 reported cases.New Zealand is currently under the orange settings of the Covid-19 Protection Framework, where there is no limit for gatherings.New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has been in self-isolation after her partner Clarke Gayford tested positive for Covid-19. Ardern announced the news on Sunday morning via social media. The country reported 15 Covid deaths amid 12,392 new community cases in the past two days.Follow news that matters to you in real-time.
Join 3 crore news enthusiasts.Written by: Rakesh Rai, Sushmita Choudhury, Tejeesh Nippun Singh, Jayanta Kalita
Research: Rajesh Sharma
