Times of India: Chandigarh: Tuesday, 17 August 2021.
The actual death toll during the peak of the second wave of Covid-19 in April and May was far higher than officially reported in the city. The UT health department undercounted the fatalities by an alarming 45% missing out on 299 victims according to information procured through RTI Act by TOI.
Officials recorded 98 deaths in April and 264 in May, way off from the true count, according to RTI details, of 661 city residents in the two months. All of them were cremated in Chandigarh.
The RTI data from the three
crematoriums at Sector 25, Industrial Area and Manimajra showed that 197
funerals took place in April and 400 in May. Another 23 victims were cremated
in the LPGrun crematorium in Sector 25 in April and 41 in May.
However, health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta trashed the figures. “There is no under-reporting of Covid deaths in Chandigarh. RTI’s questions and answers may be misleading. Our daily media report of cumulative 811 Covid deaths of Chandigarh residents is correct.”
However, Dr Amandeep Kang, director health services, said, “We have been investigating why such a difference in the numbers. We collect data from hospitals and share it with the crematoriums. There might be address issues as some people tend to give local addresses while admitting patients in the hospital.”
“The wrong addresses excuse
seems illogical. The health department traces every Covid patient and monitors
them; there is no question of a wrong address,” pointed out a PGI doctor.
The municipal corporation (MC) had been authorised to post its staff at the crematoriums according to protocols. “If the MC had the data from the crematoriums, they could have shared the same with us for better coordination. We will, however, incorporate any changes now to ensure transparency,” said Dr Kang. But experts believe there was little scope for the authorities in getting the figures right.
“We knew the data would be incorrect. This because there is a faulty system of death registry in the country. There is no mention of the cause of death in the registry other than in a hospital discharge,” said a PGI doctor.
Both MC’s sanitation wing employees and Red Cross volunteers were involved in cremating the Covid-19 victims. Many of them went about their job silently and stoically. “We did not tell our family members about our duties. Like other Covid warriors, we also discharged our services,” one of the volunteers said. During those dark days, cremation grounds were very busy. “We have sometimes seen more than 50 pyres a day in our crematorium,” said a priest in Industrial Area.
A number of victims from outside Chandigarh too were cremated in the city in the two months. That was the time when the debilitating second wave had crushed Delhi and other nearby places, overwhelming hospitals. A total of 404 Covid victims from Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir were cremated in Chandigarh in April. In May, the figure was 699. As many 212 victims were from Punjab in April and 344 in May.
Data from crematoriums showed a total of 1,695 city residents Covid and non-Covid died during April and May, 59% more than the pre-Covid times.
The actual death toll during the peak of the second wave of Covid-19 in April and May was far higher than officially reported in the city. The UT health department undercounted the fatalities by an alarming 45% missing out on 299 victims according to information procured through RTI Act by TOI.
Officials recorded 98 deaths in April and 264 in May, way off from the true count, according to RTI details, of 661 city residents in the two months. All of them were cremated in Chandigarh.
However, health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta trashed the figures. “There is no under-reporting of Covid deaths in Chandigarh. RTI’s questions and answers may be misleading. Our daily media report of cumulative 811 Covid deaths of Chandigarh residents is correct.”
However, Dr Amandeep Kang, director health services, said, “We have been investigating why such a difference in the numbers. We collect data from hospitals and share it with the crematoriums. There might be address issues as some people tend to give local addresses while admitting patients in the hospital.”
The municipal corporation (MC) had been authorised to post its staff at the crematoriums according to protocols. “If the MC had the data from the crematoriums, they could have shared the same with us for better coordination. We will, however, incorporate any changes now to ensure transparency,” said Dr Kang. But experts believe there was little scope for the authorities in getting the figures right.
“We knew the data would be incorrect. This because there is a faulty system of death registry in the country. There is no mention of the cause of death in the registry other than in a hospital discharge,” said a PGI doctor.
Both MC’s sanitation wing employees and Red Cross volunteers were involved in cremating the Covid-19 victims. Many of them went about their job silently and stoically. “We did not tell our family members about our duties. Like other Covid warriors, we also discharged our services,” one of the volunteers said. During those dark days, cremation grounds were very busy. “We have sometimes seen more than 50 pyres a day in our crematorium,” said a priest in Industrial Area.
A number of victims from outside Chandigarh too were cremated in the city in the two months. That was the time when the debilitating second wave had crushed Delhi and other nearby places, overwhelming hospitals. A total of 404 Covid victims from Punjab, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir were cremated in Chandigarh in April. In May, the figure was 699. As many 212 victims were from Punjab in April and 344 in May.
Data from crematoriums showed a total of 1,695 city residents Covid and non-Covid died during April and May, 59% more than the pre-Covid times.
.JPG)
.JPG)
