Increasing number of doctors working at Telangana government hospitals are stressing that number of COVID deaths in the State are higher than the figures mentioned in the media bulletin issued by the State Health department. The doctors who have been claiming this for the past a few weeks, said that presenting the true picture will further alert people and make them take precautions.
Multiple sources said the number of deaths at Gandhi Hospital alone in a day are higher than the figures in the media bulletins.
“Details of every patient’s death are meticulously recorded. Number of deaths during a particular time, photos of the bodies, a copy of their basic details, ward in which the patient expired, and others are collected at all hospitals. Senior officials keep track of it. The deaths at Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday were around 72,” sources in the hospital said. They added that 63 people died at the hospital on Thursday.
“If the deaths at other hospitals such as Government General Hospital, Nizamabad, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS), and other hospitals are considered, the numbers will definitely be many times more than what is mentioned in the media bulletins. Presenting a true picture helps people understand the gravity of the pandemic and could force them take precautions,” sources said.
When similar issues with death tally was raised last year, senior officials in the State Health department said they have death audit committees who assess and conclude reason of death of a COVID patient. Officials earlier said that though a COVID patient dies, serious co-morbidities could have led to death. In such cases, death is attributed to the co-morbidity or reasons other than COVID-19.
The doctors said there are some reasons for high number of deaths at Gandhi Hospital. Some private hospitals send COVID patients to the government hospital when a patient is in the last stage of life.
“Despite our efforts, patients cannot be saved as they were already in last stage of life. And people blame us doctors for the deaths which is not justified,” a doctor from the hospital said.
