‘Fallacious and inaccurate': Govt rejects media reports claiming high Covid-19 mortality rate in India

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday outrightly rejected media reports claiming that “mortality due to Covid-19 in the country is much higher than the official count and actual numbers have been undercounted.”

The Centre said that reports in some sections of media regarding the claims that Covid-19 mortalities in India are much higher than the official count are “fallacious and completely inaccurate". 

“There have been some media reports based on a published research paper alleging that mortality due to Covid-19 in India is much higher than the official count and that actual numbers have been undercounted...these reports are fallacious and completely inaccurate. They are not based on facts and are speculative in nature," the Centre said in a statement.

There have been some media reports based on a published research paper alleging that mortality due to #COVID19 in India is much higher than the official count and actual numbers have been undercounted...These reports are fallacious and completely inaccurate: Govt of India pic.twitter.com/cA9ZR0N4sg

— ANI (@ANI) February 17, 2022

The government further stated that the study claims that 3.2 million to 3.7 million people have died from Covid-19 by early November 2021 in the country, as compared to official figures of November 2021, which were 4.6 lakh.

In response to such “fallacious and completely inaccurate” report, the Centre said that India has a robust system of reporting deaths including Covid-19 deaths that are compiled regularly at different levels of governance starting from the gram Panchayat level to the district level and state level.

In view of improvement in the Covid-19 situation in the country, the Centre on Wednesday directed the states and the Union Territories to review and amend or end additional restrictions.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a letter to all states/UTs, said, "The COVID-19 pandemic in India is showing a sustained declining trend since January 21, 2022. The average daily cases during last week were 50,476 and 27,409 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours. The daily case positivity on February 15, has declined to 3.63 per cent."

Bhushan said that the government is changing the existing guidelines and aiming to minimise it with the "changing epidemiology of the COVID-19 virus globally."

He further asserted that the Union Health Ministry has revised the international travel guidelines since February 10, 2022.

"Presently, as the case trajectory across the nation is showing a sustained downward trend, it will be useful if states/UTs review and amend/do away with the additional restrictions so imposed after considering the trend of new cases, active cases and positivity within the State/UT," read the letter.

The Union Health Secretary further asked the state governments to relax the restrictions at their borders and at airports so that movement of people and economy is not hampered by additional restrictions imposed at State level points of entry.

Bhushan further asked all the states and UTs to continue monitoring the trajectory of cases on a daily basis. Also, the Health Secretary asked states to follow the five-fold strategy of test, track, treat, vaccination and adherence to COVID-appropriate behaviour.