The Madhya Pradesh government has denied that at least 9,271 COVID-19 test results were unaccounted for up to April 31, as reported by The Hindu.
Also read: In Madhya Pradesh, power play during a pandemic
The story was based on the data released by the State Directorate of Health Services through its media bulletin. P. Narahari, Secretary, Public Relations Department said the data were being recompiled by the government.
In a rejoinder, he stated as of April 2, the number of cumulative samples received was 50,749, samples tested was 46,578, samples rejected was 1,542 and those under process were 2,629.
However, the story had instead stated there was a wide variance between the cumulative COVID-19 test reports received and the sum of samples that tested positive and negative until April 30 in Madhya Pradesh, which raised questions about accuracy of data maintained by the State government. The difference between the two metrics was at least 9,271 tests whose results were unaccounted for
In the rejoinder, the number of positive and negative samples was not provided, neither was the variance between cumulative test reports received and the sum of samples that tested positive and negative disputed. Besides, the government also did not dispute the inexplicable slashing of the cumulative tally of samples which had tested negative on two previous occasions, as mentioned in the story.
