2 April COVID-19 deaths revealed now by Indore authorities

The government machinery has been under attack from the opposition Congress and social activists who are alleging that COVID-19 deaths are being disclosed by authorities "as per convenience", which they claim is creating doubts about official data. "It has not been said anywhere in COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Centre or WHO that the local administration can withhold the disclosure of information about deaths from this infection at its level," RTI activist Ajay Dubey said.

Health authorities in Indore in Madhya Pradesh have disclosed two COVID-19 deaths more than three months after they occurred. A 36-year-old man and a 70-year-old man, detected with the infection, died on April 7 and 10 respectively in two private hospitals, and the official information on these casualties was shared by health department authorities in a COVID-19 bulletin released on Sunday.

Queried about the delay, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO) Praveen Jadia said records of COVID-19 deaths in local hospitals are being examined and matched, and the information on the two deaths was received during this exercise. The government machinery has been under attack from the opposition Congress and social activists who are alleging that COVID-19 deaths are being disclosed by authorities "as per convenience", which they claim is creating doubts about official data.

"It has not been said anywhere in COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Centre or WHO that the local administration can withhold the disclosure of information about deaths from this infection at its level," RTI activist Ajay Dubey said. Meanwhile, 92 COVID-19 cases were detected in the last 24 hours in Indore district, taking the overall count to 5,352.

While 4,017 persons have been discharged, 269 have succumbed to the infection..