JOIN USBengaluru saw sharp spike in Covid-19 deaths in July
Bengaluru’s total number of registered deaths due to all causes saw an abnormal spike in July 2020. While officials said that this rise was due to a record number of Covid-19 fatalities, an examination of the data suggests that some Covid-19 fatalities are unaccounted for.
According to data from the Office of the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), 6,477 deaths (due to all causes) were registered in July 2020. This was a 22.7% increase over July 2019 figures - when 5,278 deaths (all causes) were registered.
Out the 6,477, as many as 834 people are confirmed Covid-19 victims according to data from the Department of Health and Family Welfare. That puts non-Covid deaths at 5,643 in July 2020, which is more than the normal for July. A senior Palike officer, however, said that the true number of Covid fatalities in the city was higher, but that the accounting was complicated due to several factors.
BBMP commissioner N Manjunath Prasad clarified: “If it wasn’t for the Covid deaths this year, the number of fatalities this July would largely align with last July’s. We are seeing an average of 30 Covid deaths and 60 non-Covid deaths in the city everyday. If we were to consider only the non-Covid deaths, the deaths this July would match with earlier years.”
However, the commissioner also pointed to a discrepancy in the number of deaths registered by the city and the number of deaths registered by burial grounds and crematoria.
“Some of the Covid-19 deaths are people from Ramnagara and other surrounding districts who died while being treated at hospitals in the city. According to the protocol, they have to be registered by the city, but the Department of Health and Family Welfare identifies them as belonging to their respective districts,” he said.
An analysis of the data by DH reveals that there are more than 300 extra deaths this July, above the normal monthly July average. What are these extra deaths?
While the Palike insisted that this is explained by patients from other districts succumbing to the disease in the city, knowledgeable sources said that not all people who die in the city are administered a Rapid Antigen Test to determine if they had the novel coronavirus.
“Sometimes, field staff do not carry out an antigen test on the deceased. In other cases, families are anxious to hide the fact that a relative died of Covid in order to have normal burial or cremation. This is happening especially to those who die at home. They will hush up the symptoms, get a doctor to draft a death certificate indicating normal death,” a source said.