Covid 19 Deaths: Health Ministry refutes media report, 30 lakh deaths were claimed in first two corona waves

The Health Ministry has denied media reports showing a low number of deaths from COVID-19 in the first two waves in India. The ministry has termed it as erroneous and ill-intentioned information. Also said that the Government of India has a comprehensive mechanism globally to classify Covid deaths.

Ministry called the report misleading

In a statement, the ministry refuted some media reports which said that the actual number of people who died in India in the first two waves of Covid is low and the death toll could be around three million. The statement from the ministry said, "Such media reports are based on misleading and false information. They are not based on facts and are mischievous. India has a very strong system of birth and death reporting which is based on a single law and is done regularly from village panchayat level to district level and state level.

A world-class system with Government of India

The Ministry said that the entire exercise is being done under the supervision of the Registrar General of India (RGI). In addition, the Government of India has a comprehensive mechanism to classify COVID deaths based on a globally accepted classification. All deaths are being independently reported by the states and compiled centrally. The data of earlier Kovid-19 deaths are also being updated. The figures of the states are being compared with the figures of the Government of India at different times.

Underestimating deaths baseless

A large number of states have regularly tallied death numbers and reported earlier deaths in a largely transparent manner. Therefore, to say that the deaths are underreported is baseless and justified. The actual death rate during the pandemic situation could be higher than the reported deaths due to many factors, even in the most robust health systems, the statement said. Underestimating the information collected from different states and separate analyses is bound to lead to incomplete and incorrect results.