Clarifying its position on the controversy around the total death toll in the ongoing COVID19 pandemic in India, the Union Health Ministry stated today, on August 4, that the country has a robust, statute-based death registration system and missing out on the deaths by the virus is ‘completely unlikely’.

“It is clarified that given the robust and statute-based death registration system in India, while some cases could go undetected as per the principles of infectious disease and its management, missing out on deaths is completely unlikely,” the ministry was quoted.

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“This could also be seen in the case fatality rate, which as on 31st December 2020 stood at 1.45 per cent, and even after an unexpected surge observed in the second wave in April-May 2021, the case fatality rate today stands at 1.34 per cent,” it added.

The official statement mentioned that the ministry has regularly emphasised the need for a robust reporting mechanism for monitoring district-wise cases and deaths on a daily basis. “States consistently reporting lower number of daily deaths have been advised to re-check their data,” the statement noted.

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The health ministry also highlighted that the difference in the recording of deaths shall always exist during a ‘profound and prolonged’ public health crisis such as the COVID19.

“Well-conducted research studies on mortalities are usually done after the event when data on mortalities are available from reliable sources. The methodologies for such studies are well established, the data sources are defined as also the valid assumptions for computing mortality,” it added.

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