Opposition parties accuse Mamata of trying to hide COVID-19 death figures

The opposition CPI(M) and BJP on Thursday charged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with trying to hide the actual figure of COVID-19 deaths in the state and asked her to refrain from such "illegal action". The criticism came after Banerjee's assertion on Wednesday that, of the six deaths till then, only three persons died of coronavirus infection and three other patients passed away due to other underlying ailments like kidney disorder, but media houses were raising the figure for the sake of sensationalism.

West Bengal health department on Thursday, however, said the state so far has reported 53 cases of COVID-19 and the death toll has been seven. "The chief minister is trying to hide the death figures. This is absurd. What is there to be ashamed of? She should not hide the truth. This will adversely affect the entire process of containing the outbreak," BJP state president Dilip Ghosh said.

Ghosh reminded that Banerjee had earlier tried to hide dengue death figures too. "In West Bengal, if people die of dengue it is certified as unknown fever. If people die of coronavirus, it is being certified as kidney ailments, he said.

During the dengue outbreak of 2017, Banerjee had claimed that some private healthcare units in West Bengal were reporting deaths from an "unknown fever" as caused by dengue to "malign" the state government. CPI(M) state secretary Surya Kanta Mishra said it is for a doctor to certify the reason behind a death and not the chief minister.

"It is absurd and unethical to claim that people died due to kidney ailments and other diseases even after being tested positive for coronavirus. If she is doing it, it is an illegal intervention. This should immediately stop," Mishra, a certified doctor himself, said. Seniors leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress declined to comment on the issue but asked opposition parties to refrain from indulging in politics at the time of crisis.

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