COVID-19 deaths from Jan 1, 2020-July 13, 2021 23,486, says Cong in Kerala citing RTI reply

The Congress in Kerala on Tuesday alleged there was a huge disparity between the real number of COVID-19-related deaths and the official death toll issued by the state government.

The Congress-led Opposition today raised the issue by releasing a reply received through the Right to Information Act, on the number of COVID-19 cases to date.

''TheRTI application seeking the number of deaths was given on July 13 and the reply came on July 23. It says from January 1, 2020, till July 13this year, the COVID-19 deaths in the state were 23,486. However, the chief minister yesterday told the House that there were only 16,170 deaths,'' Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan said at a press meet.

Showing the RTI reply, Satheesan said there was a ''difference of 7,316 deaths'' between the RTI reply and the official data which means that there is a huge disparity between the real number of deaths and the official number issued by the state government.

''This information was received through the RTI Act, and it was given by the Information Kerala Mission. It is not functioning from the KPCC office here. It's a state government agency,'' Satheesan said.

He alleged the state government was deliberately showing less number of COVID-19 deaths and that the methods used for ascertaining the deaths were unscientific.

The Congress party said it will look into the legal options against such a huge disparity in the death toll.

According to a government release, Kerala reported 22,129 new COVID-19cases on Tuesday and 156 COVID-19 related deaths, taking the death toll to16,326.