13,000 COVID deaths were not included in Kerala’s official fatalities list?

Onmanorama had on Saturday reported that 7,000 COVID-19 deaths from six districts—Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Kozhikode—were excluded from the official list of fatalities in Kerala.

Around 6,000 deaths were not officially reported from the remaining eight districts as well. With this, a total of 13,000 COVID-19 deaths have been excluded from the official list of fatalities.

According to the official figures of the state government, 13,640 people have died due to COVID-19 till Saturday. If the claim of additional fatalities is true, that would effectively double Kerala’s death toll from the pandemic.

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-19 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-19 list. Those who developed pneumonia after getting COVID 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-19 victims were entitled to compensation.

The official death toll in Palakkad district is 1,173, according to the health department; but figures from the local bodies show 2,571 deaths. The official toll in Malappuram is 1,197, but the local bodies’ data shows 2,758 fatalities. In Thrissur, the official toll is at 1,390, but the count in the health department's death list itself is 2,192. In Pathanamthitta, the official toll is 431, but there are 933 COVID-19 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 1,981 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, according to local bodies’ data.

Meanwhile, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday directed the district medical officers to report within three days whether there are COVID-19 deaths that were not included in the official list.

(This report was first published on onmanorama)