The Gujarat government on Wednesday clarified that there is no hiding of any kind in the number of deaths due to Covid-19 in the State.
Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said, Anyone who has died after being tested positive for Covid-19, is considered as dead due to Covid irrespective of co-morbidities. There is no hiding of any kind in the numbers.
The statement comes after questions were raised about State’s method of reporting deaths due to Covid-19. Gujarat has been reporting on average 15 deaths daily since July 1, raising doubts about the transparency in numbers by the State health department.
Gujarat has so far reported 2,071 deaths as on Wednesday with total 43,723 cases in the State. So far, total 30,555 people have recovered or been discharged as per the ICMR guidelines.
On the controversies over casualty numbers being suppressed, Patel assured that , “the government numbers are authentic and there is no hiding of any kind.”
Patel also informed that the State is awaiting Centre’s guidance on upcoming festival seasons for Ganesh Chaturthi, Janmashtami and Navaratri. “We have to consider public safety before relaxing the norms. We are waiting for the Centre’s guidance for the same,” said Patel at a media briefing.
On the rising cases, the Deputy Chief Minister, who also holds the cabinet portfolio for health and family welfare, stated that the cases were expected to rise after Gujarat relaxed restrictions for businesses and movement. “But the rise in cases is much lower than what was feared. So we are better placed than many other states,” said Patel.
The State government on Wednesday issued a notification allowing any individual to get an RT-PCR test done at a government or private lab with a prescription from a doctor. There will be no requirement of any additional approvals from the heath authorities. The cost of test for private labs is fixed at ₹2,500 at the lab and ₹3,000 for home sample collection. Tests at government facilities are free of cost.
Gujarat has conducted total 4.78 lakh tests so far with average daily tests of around 7,400 across so far during July. The State has test-positivity ratio of 11.29 per cent, while recovery rate is over 69 per cent.