Covid data row: Kerala Health minister Veena George accuses Centre of spreading misinformation

“Allegations that Kerala government is not giving COVID data to the Centre are absolutely wrong. We've been sending data since 2020 and continue to do so. It's just that we've stopped publishing daily bulletin in the state; have been sending mails,” said Kerala Health Minister.

New Delhi: Kerala Health minister Veena George on Tuesday (April 19, 2022), while reacting to the Centre’s claim that the state was not sharing daily Covid data with them, accused the government of spreading misinformation. 

While talking to the reporters, the Kerala Health minister presented a series of digital evidence of daily emails sent to the Centre as per the prescribed format.

Kerala government has been sending out COVID-19 data regularly since 2020, said Health Minister Veena George rejecting the Centre`s claims of not providing daily Covid-19 reports.

“Allegations that Kerala government is not giving Covid-19 data to the Centre are absolutely wrong. We've been sending data since 2020 and continue to do so.  It's just that we've stopped publishing daily bulletin in the state; have been sending mails,” said Kerala Health Minister. 

Veena George also slammed the government for sharing the official letter sent to the state in the media and called it a publicity stunt. 

“It was unfortunate that the official letter sent to the state was leaked to the media and given publicity at the national level,” she added. 

We are giving daily (COVID) report to National Surveillance Unit in the format suggested by Union Govt; quite unfortunate that a responsible person from Union govt is sending a letter to Principal Secy stating that Kerala is not giving data to the Centre: Kerala Health Minister pic.twitter.com/VnSjqUhKmU

— ANI (@ANI) April 20, 2022

Earlier, on April 18, the Centre has asked Kerala to provide updated Covid-19 data daily and noted that the state reporting figures after a gap of five days have skewed India's key pandemic monitoring indicators such as cases, deaths and positivity rate.

Daily and diligent reporting of data is critical to arrive at a meaningful understanding of the pandemic situation and will help not only in tracking and monitoring but also in defining the strategies and plans at the Centre, state and district levels, Join Secretary in the Union Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said in a letter to Kerala's Principal Secretary of Health Rajan N Khobragade.

"It has been observed that Kerala has reported its state-level Covid-19 data after a gap of five days (since April 13). This has impacted and skewed the status of India's key monitoring indicators like cases, deaths and positivity. India has reported a 90 per cent increase in new cases and 165 per cent increase in positivity in a single day," Agarwal said.

Agarwal added that daily and diligent reporting of data is critical to arrive at a meaningful understanding of pandemic in the districts, state and national level and ensure that any anomalies, surge or emerging trends can be captured in a timely manner.

"This is especially relevant as it is a highly infectious disease and also has an associated risk of emergence of new variants. Quick and continuous update of data will assist in India's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and will help not only in tracking and monitoring but will also in defining the strategies and plans at the Centre, State and District level," the letter stated.

"You are, accordingly, requested to ensure that daily updation of required details is undertaken by the state to the Union Ministry of Health," the letter stated.

Kerala has reported 213 Covid-19 deaths in a span of 24 hours, according to data updated at 8 am on Monday.

According to the Union Health Ministry,  Kerala reported 213 deaths in a span of 24 hours, out of which one death was reported on April 17 while 62 were designated as Covid-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court and remaining 150 deaths were reported from April 13 to 16. 

(With PTI inputs)