Many experts are skeptical of Indian government statistics, claiming that the number of deaths from Covid-19 in the country is not fully recorded, and that the reality may be higher.
Last week, India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan affirmed that the Covid-19 death rate in this country is “at the lowest in the world”. The statement of the head of the medical industry is in stark contrast to the series of shocking images and stories of cremations burned day and night due to overloaded bodies, patients dying on the road due to lack of breathing. gas, according Guardian . Question of concealing data of the dead? Official records of the Indian authorities show that the number of people infected and fatal has increased continuously. On May 1, the South Asian country experienced another record-breaking day with 401,993 new cases and 3,523 deaths from Covid-19. But health experts have the same view that the official number does not fully reflect the size of the number of deaths caused by Covid-19 in India. At this time, because medical facilities are overloaded and lack medical supplies, many patients cannot be hospitalized and die at home, even without adequate testing. Meanwhile, the local authorities were accused of not making accurate statistics, even hiding the actual death toll in the area where they were responsible. 
Relatives stand by when the dead body is cremated. Photo: Reuters. In the past month, in the city of Karnataka, Bangalore – where the number of infections has been among the fastest growing in the country – the number of corpses registered for cremation with Covid-19 is twice as high as the number of deaths recorded by the authorities. The information concealment charge is particularly notable in Uttar Pradesh, where the state government is governed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party. Adityanath, governor of Uttar Pradesh, insisted that the state had no shortage of oxygen, and threatened to prosecute anyone who spread panic information. Authorities Uttar Pradesh denied allegations of information hiding. The truss burned day and night In the Muzaffarnagar city of Uttar Pradesh state, data are available from the weekly newspaper Observer The collection revealed the discrepancy between the local authorities’ death statistics and the number of bodies cremated at city cremation facilities and cemeteries. Official data recorded only 10 deaths from Covid-19 in the last four days of April. But according to Ajay Kumar Agarwal, owner of a city cremation facility, that is only an odd number compared to the bodies burned. burned at this facility every day. “Normally we cremate 3 bodies per day. But in the past 10 days, the number of cremated bodies has increased many times. There are days 18, some days 20, then 22 and 25. In the past 10 days, not yet.” we have less than 12 bodies every day, 90% of which are corona deaths, “said Agarwal. Mr. Agarwal’s cremation facility only had seven crematoriums, so the staff had to cremate the body on the ground. Some of the bodies were sent to another facility 35 kilometers from the city. 
The pyre burned day and night in India. Photo: Reuters. Mr. Agarwal accused local authorities of publishing “inaccurate” data, denying the possibility that the city has experienced no days, or that only one or two people died of Covid-19 in the past week. . “The authorities have not released the exact death figures. I don’t understand why they are hiding it. Maybe they don’t want people to panic,” Agarwal said. Similar comments were made by Sanjay Mittal, an employee at another cremation facility in Muzaffarnagar. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. We set the crematorium on fire from dawn to dusk,” Mittal said. Before the pandemic, Mittal’s cremation facility handled about 5 bodies a day. But on April 27, they received 21 bodies. On April 28, the number of bodies decreased to 15, before once again increasing to 19 on April 29. “It is noon now, and we have already got 12 bodies. I don’t know how much more will it be by the end of the day,” Mittal said on April 30. The number of bodies taken for burial has also increased sharply in the Muslim cemetery in Muzaffarnagar. “Before the corona virus, we buried 2-3 bodies a week, but now it is 6-7 bodies a day. Only three of them come from the hospital, the rest are either dead at home or not tested,” Mr. Abdul Quadir, curator, said. Government data show that Muzaffarnagar has a very low rate of testing. On April 27, the whole city did not conduct tests. On April 29, only 561 people were tested, all positive for corona virus. The actual number of deaths could be 3 times higher An unnamed doctor from the Medical Association in Uttar Pradesh state said that many people die from pneumonia, pulmonary fibrosis – typical symptoms of severe form Covid-19. “We have to accept that the death toll from corona virus is much higher than the official statistics. The bodies we see at the crematorium are mostly self-medicating at home, and they die.” The number of deaths like this is very high, but most of them have not been recorded. The rate of testing here is much lower than the need, “the doctor said. Murad Banaji, the mathematician who modeled the plague in India, said the numerous streams of evidence suggest that the understatement of deaths from disease is a serious problem. This expert believes that the number of deaths in India is at least 3 times higher than the official statistics. The conclusion is based on calculations from major cities like Mumbai, where during the first outbreak of the epidemic he calculated the number of “excess deaths” compared to the annual number of deaths. 
Mass cremation area in New Delhi. Photo: Reuters. This calculation could put the number of Covid-19 deaths in Mumbai from 13,000 to about 21,000. Banaji stressed that in less developed rural areas, such as in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with limited medical facilities, Covid-19 deaths are not recorded “perhaps much larger than in cities like Mumbai “. The consequences of inaccurate statistics on the number of deaths can be very serious. It will affect the effective allocation of resources, limiting the ability to develop a suitable immunization strategy to help prevent future outbreaks. “If we don’t have data to understand what’s going on in the current pandemic, how can India prepare for the future?” Mr. Banaji said. The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.
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