THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister Veena George said that the state government has nothing to hide in reporting Covid deaths and claimed that it will provide all support for those who deserving compensation from the Centre.
The minister rubbished allegations made by the opposition that the Covid deaths data in the state was fudged. She, however, added that the government was ready to reexamine the data if there were any specific complaints.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader V D Satheesan said that they would expose the data on Covid deaths that were not included in the official figures if the government was unwilling to reexamine the data.
“No government decision will come in the way of getting the benefits to the people who have been affected by Covid-19,” said Health Minister Veena George. “,Till date, Covid deaths have been decided based on ICMR and WHO recommendations. If the Centre is revising the policy on declaring the deaths, then the state government will abide by the decision.”
The minister added that a new transparent and decentralised online system has been put in place to report deaths. When a Covid patient dies, the doctor concerned or the hospital superintendent has to report the matter within 24 hours and a real-time entry is made at the district level itself, the minister claimed.
George claimed that in Kerala 100 percent of births and deaths are reported. “It is not as if the state decides on which death to be categorised as due to Covid or not,” she said.
The opposition has been alleging that the government was not considering deaths from Covid complications in the official toll. The opposition had also raised the matter in the assembly. “Many families who have lost their sole bread earner to the pandemic are not going to get any kind of compensation. Hence the government should amend the policy being followed for reporting the death,’’ said V D Satheesan.
All deaths due to Covidrelated complications should be considered due to the pandemic, said Satheesan while alleging that the attempts were made to cover up Covid deaths to project the state as a model of coronavirus containment.
KPCC president K Sudhakaran has also accused the government of not revealing the actual data. “Many of the deserving families will be out from the list if the Centre or state governments are coming with a relief package for them,’’ he said.
