Thiruvananthapuram: A round-the-clock DISHA helpline has been set up to clear doubts regarding the inclusion of more names in the list of COVID-19 casualties, Minister for Health Veena George said.
Members of the public may contact the helpline over the DISHA numbers, 104, 1056, 0471-2552056, or 0471-2551056 to clear their doubts.
(DISHA denotes District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee.)
Applications for adding of names to the list should be made over the e-health COVID-19 death info portal (https://covid19.kerala.gov.in/deathinfo/ ).
Appeals could also be filed regarding deaths defined as COVID-19 casualties as per the revised guidelines of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), and those casualties that were not included in the list.
Those not having online access could file their applications via primary health centers or Akshaya Kendras.
Applications/complaints will be processed within 30 days.
Recently, the state government decided to revise the list of COVID-19 deaths in Kerala in accordance with the Centre's updated guidelines. The revision has become all the more crucial after the Central government assured the Supreme Court that it would give compensation to the dependents of those who died due to the pandemic.
The Kerala government was forced to reconsider the exact number of COVID-19 fatalities after the Opposition Leader in the Assembly V D Satheesan, on July 27, released the details of several pandemic deaths which he had received from the Information Kerala Mission as an RTI reply. After assessing the list, it was found out that 7,316 COVID-19 deaths occurring from January 2020 to July 1, 2021 were not officially declared as deaths due to the pandemic.
