The World Health Organisation (WHO) report of 4.7 million “excess” Covid deaths in India does not stand any “logic or fact”, the chief of the country’s Covid Working Group said today, calling the report “worrisome”.
Speaking to NDTV this morning, Dr NK Arora, chief of India’s Covid Working Group, said that while there can be a 10-20% discrepancy, India’s robust and accurate death registration system (known as Civil Registration System, or CRS) ensures that a majority of virus-related deaths are covered.
In a report released Thursday, WHO said between January 2020 and December 2021, there were 4.7 million “excess” Covid deaths in India — the maximum number that’s 10 times the official figures and almost a third of Covid deaths globally. The global figure, according to the report, was 15 million — more than double the official figure of 6 million.
STATEMENTS ABOUT DEATHS
Calling the report “preposterous and untenable”, Mr Arora said,” In 2018, around 85-88 per cent of deaths were covered. In 2020, 98-99 per cent of the deaths were covered. In 2018 and 2019, seven lakh deaths additional took place. Do we say that all were Covid? Out of the excess 4.6 lakh, 1.45 were the reported deaths. Those three lakh deaths took place due to other reasons. Even if we say 4 lakh were extra, still it does not fit into the WHO estimates”.
Asked if states could have failed to report to the Centre, Mr Arora said. “There was lag and you know after the Supreme Court ruling. Every state has been reporting their backlog which were missed out earlier, and now they are part of the current system. Many times the numbers in Kerala and other well-performing states, additional casualty have been added up to the overall numbers. India is a huge country, so there will be some missing, but not “10 times” as is being reported”.
“The other thing is if it was so much then people should have swamped us because the Indian definition of Covid is any lives occurring within one month as diagnosed as Covid. But nothing like that has happened. Relatives of 40 lakh people have not come to claim compensation. So there are several inconsistencies in the WHO report,” he added.