Death due to corona will be counted in corona death as such despite comorbidities the government told in the SC

New Delhi: There have been allegations against the government regarding the death toll from Corona that the government is not presenting the correct figure of those who died from Corona. Apart from this, the issue of rigging in deaths due to corona was raised on many states. Now the government has said on this matter that all deaths due to corona should be recorded as Covid deaths only. It cannot happen that if a corona patient is suffering from some other disease, then he should be told the cause of death. The government also said that action would also be taken against the doctors who were negligent in this matter. Apart from this, the cause of death will also be given on the death certificate as corona infection.

The central government told the Supreme Court through an affidavit on June 19 that even if a patient had a serious illness and got a corona infection between them, he would still be included in the death due to corona. Along with the death of corona, even if the patient who died was suffering from other serious disease, it will be counted in the corona death. The Central Government, in its affidavit in the Supreme Court, said that doctors should also be punished for not following the rules. The government clarified and said, if the cause of death is clearly seen not corona, then it cannot be considered a death due to corona. For example, death due to accident, poisoning, heart attack etc.

 The central government has said that in the death certificate of deaths due to corona, the cause of death will be certified as covid death. Also, action will be taken against the doctors and officials who fail to certify the corona deaths.

ICMR guidelines were issued last year

Releasing the guidelines prepared by ICMR last year, the Union Health Ministry had said that internal causes should be identified in deaths due to corona-19. When a person has died due to pneumonia, breathing difficulties, heart problems or blood clots, which can lead to this viral infection.

The guidelines state that major diseases such as asthma, heart disease, diabetes or cancer can cause serious illness to the patient but these cannot be considered as a fundamental cause of death.

Committees formed to investigate deaths

The Union Health Ministry had also asked states to form dedicated committees to investigate COVID-19 deaths, making it mandatory for all hospitals to submit a summary of their deaths to the committees within 24 hours. These committees were formed to see what caused the deaths and whether it was possible to avoid it.

In a statement issued on June 12, the Union Health Ministry said it had emphasized the need for a robust reporting mechanism for daily monitoring of district-wise cases and deaths. Citing the example of Bihar, the ministry had said, “States reporting low number of daily deaths were asked to re-examine their data, asking them to provide detailed data on the number of deaths. .

The affidavit also mentioned that the audit of deaths is an administrative exercise that identifies deficiencies that contribute to the deaths of patients. Its aim is to improve the quality of health services.