Thiruvananthapuram: Several bereaved families in Kerala may not benefit from the Supreme Court-directed ex-gratia payment for the next of kin of COVID-19 victims.

It has been alleged that the State government has concealed or under-reported several COVID-related deaths. The State has been claiming it has effectively controlled the COVID-19 death rate (0.4%).

According to official statistics, COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 13,359 lives in Kerala so far since its outbreak early last year. However, it has been estimated that the real toll would be at least three times more than the official figures.

While officials said as many as 2,759 patients have died of COVID-19 at the Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, a reply to an application filed under the Right to Information Act showed 3,172 deaths till June 3 in the same hospital.

Deaths occurring at the Medical College Hospital were being considered and included as casualties in Thiruvananthapuram district. While the State government statistics pegged the number of deaths in Kollam at 912, local bodies in that district counted 2,528.

Why the mismatch
The government has been considering only those dying while being coronavirus positive as COVID victims. Patients dying of pneumonia or other comorbid conditions, even a day after testing negative, have been excluded from the list of COVID-19 deaths.

Many of them would have lived longer despite having other medical conditions. Health experts have attributed the cause for their sudden death to COVID-19. Excluding them from the list of COVID-19 deaths would deny the ex-gratia to several families.

The state government, meanwhile, maintained that it has been following the guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). Opposition Leader V D Satheesan alleged that these guidelines are not being followed in toto.

Health Minister Veena George said Satheesan’s allegation would be examined. "The government has not received any complaint over COVID-19 deaths. We will examine if any death has been excluded. The government will not stand in the way of anything that would benefit the people. We have no need to hide deaths. It’s doctors who confirm and ascertain the cause of deaths," Veena said.

Remote operation
A State-level committee had been confirming COVID-19 deaths till recently. District-level panels were formed recently to ascertain COVID-19 deaths after questions were raised over how a doctor, who had not examined the patient, confirmed the cause of death.

Several IT and health experts had been unofficially keeping a count of COVID-19 deaths since March 28 when Kerala reported its first casualty. The official toll till December 23, 2020, had been 2,646, while the unofficial figures pegged the number of deaths at 4,559.

Those keeping an unofficial tab on COVID-19 deaths stopped counting after their repeated warnings that fudging the figures was against medical ethics fell on deaf ears.