Could COVID-19 Deaths in India Actually Be Five Times the Official Figure?
In a discussion with Karan Thapar for The Wire Dr. Hemant Shewade and Dr. Giridara Gopal, two community physicians with a deep interest in public health, who earlier wrote an Op-ed for The Hindu on the 10th of August, say that the under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths will get worse as the incidence of Covid-19 spreads beyond metropolitan centres like Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai into tier 2 and tier 3 towns and then, beyond that, into rural India. As Dr. Gopal, who is also a member of the India COVID Apex Research Team, put it: “This may be more pronounced in rural and semi-urban areas where there is poor access to health facilities and/or qualified medical doctors.”
Doctors Shewade and Gopal explained to The Wire the largest element of under-reported Covid-19 deaths came from “suspected Covid-19 deaths occurring at home or during transit or in non-Covid hospitals”. As they put it: “Outside designated Covid-19 facilities, there could be many instances of suspected Covid-19 being the cause of death which may not be captured.”
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Doctors Shewade and Gopal explained to The Wire the largest element of under-reported Covid-19 deaths came from “suspected Covid-19 deaths occurring at home or during transit or in non-Covid hospitals”. As they put it: “Outside designated Covid-19 facilities, there could be many instances of suspected Covid-19 being the cause of death which may not be captured.”
Like our work? Click here to support The Wire: https://thewire.in/support
The founding premise of The Wire is this: if good journalism is to survive and thrive, it can only do so by being both editorially and financially independent. This means relying principally on contributions from readers and concerned citizens who have no interest other than to sustain a space for quality journalism. As a publication, The Wire will be firmly committed to the public interest and democratic values.
We publish in four different languages!
For English, visit www.thewire.in
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