Counting Covid-19 deaths - New 30-days rule

Supreme Court's intervention has led to a new rule for counting Covid deaths

 Counting Covid-19 deaths - New 30-days rule

---

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

---

• The story: India saw a huge death toll from Covid, in both the "waves", though official figures have failed to reflect the true picture of the tragedy. A lot of ink has been spilled on the gap between actual and official numbers, as also on the authorities' reluctance to consider a death as "Covid death".
• A new rule: After being pulled up by the Supreme Court over delay in framing guidelines for issuance of deaths certificates to the families of those who died of Covid-19, the health and family welfare ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) filed a joint affidavit in the court, laying out the guidelines.

1. Deaths occurring within 30 days from being clinically diagnosed as a Covid-19 case will be treated as “deaths due to Covid-19”, the Centre has submitted in an affidavit filed in Supreme Court.
2. The Centre said the guidelines have been circulated to all the states by the Registrar General of India.
3. Covid-19 cases have been defined as cases diagnosed “through a positive RT-PCR/molecular tests/rapid antigen tests (RAT) or clinically determined through investigations in a hospital/in-patient facility by a treating physician, while admitted in the hospital/in-patient facility”.
4. In case of long Covid-19, the 30-day rule will not apply.

• Not considered: Deaths due to poisoning, suicide, homicide, deaths due to accident, etc. will not be considered as Covid-19 deaths even if Covid-19 is an accompanying condition. The guidelines come days after the Supreme Court had expressed displeasure over framing of guidelines for issuance of death certificates (bench comprised Justices M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose)
• Details: The guidelines have laid down the procedure in case the next of kin of the deceased person is not satisfied with the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) issued by the authorities. The person can raise a complaint. The state will notify a committee, which will comprise an additional district collector, the chief medical officer of health (CMOH), an additional CMOH or principal or head of the department of medicine of a medical college (if one exists in the district) and a subject expert, for issuing of the “official document for Covid-19 death”. Applications for issuing the official document and redressal of grievances are to be disposed of within 30 days of submission.
• Knowledge centre:

1. Excess deaths - Expert analysis has shown that the “excess deaths” registered during the pandemic period was 5.8 times the official COVID-19 death toll in 11 Indian States/Union Territories put together, whose Civil Registration System (CRS) data was accessed. The undercount factor of 5.8 was the highest among nations with the most recorded fatalities due to the virus. The share of registered deaths in India was about 92%, and only 20.7% were medically certified in 2019. Hence, the undercount is a conservative estimate.
2. CRS in India - Civil Registration System (CRS) in India is the unified process of continuous, permanent and compulsory recording of the vital events (births, deaths, still births) and characteristics thereof. The Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 provides for the compulsory registration of births and deaths.

• EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the multiple reasons for the huge gap in official and real estimates of Covid-19 deaths in India. (2) What was the role played by the Supreme Court in the assessment of Covid deaths? Explain analytically.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

#Covid #Deaths #CRS #Undercounting #MHA #SupremeCourt

Join UPSC Self Prep course | Online Course (PT Gurukul)  | Covid Special Course | Join PT courses

* Content sourced from free internet sources (publications, PIB site, international sites, etc.). Take your own subscriptions. Copyrights acknowledged.