A story published by the daily local Gujarati newspaper Divya Bhaskar on Friday disclosed the extent of underreporting Covid-19 deaths by the Gujurat government amid the disastrous second wave of the Covid pandemic.
A Twitter thread, translated into English by journalist Deepak Patel report said that Gujarat had issued 1.23 lakh death certificates between March 1 and May 10, compared to 58,000 certificates issued in the same period last year.
This revealed that the State government issued 65,000 more death certificates from March 1 to May 10 this year. However, according to Divya Bhaskar, the Gujarat government data showed that only 4,218 patients had died of Covid-19 during that time.
The Gujarat government said it was inaccurate to say that the state is hiding the Covid-19 deaths data.
Patel also emphasized district-wise numbers of death certificates issued from March 1 to May 10 in 2021, much higher than the official Covid-19 death toll.
“Ahmedabad issued 7,786 death certificates in the 71 days last year,” Patel wrote. “It issued 13,593 death certificates in 71 days of 2021. Note: Gujarat government’s data says 2,126 people died of Covid in Ahmedabad city in 71 days of 2021.”
“Surat issued 2,769 death certificates in 71 days last year,” Patel added. “It issued 8,851 death certificates at the same time this year. Note: Guj govt’s data says 1,074 people died of Covid in Surat city in 71 days this year.”
In Vadodara, 7,722 death certificates were issued from March 1 to May 10 in 2021 compared to 2,373 in 2020. However, the government noted only 189 Covid deaths in that period.
In Rajkot, 10,878 death certificates were issued in 71 days in 2021. However, according to government data, only 288 died due to the Covid-19 during that time, Divya Bhaskar reported.
Likewise, Patel pointed out the numbers for Bhavnagar, Mehsana, Rural Jamnagar, Amreli, and Navasri.
The local daily Divya Bhaskar has been pointing out mistakes in state government claims related to COVID-19. In April this year, the newspaper published phone number of the state BJP chief in its front page, inquiring how he got his hands on 5,000 vials of Remdesivir.
Gujarat’s media has been consistently demanding accountability from the state government amid the rising health crisis.
