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Kerala has issued revised guidelines for determining Covid deaths, based on directives from the ICMR and the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as originally advised by the Supreme Court. The State reported 122 deaths on Thursday, taking the cumulative toll past 25,000 to 25,087. Daily new cases came in at 15,914 from 1,03,871 samples tested, making for a test positivity ratio (TPR) of 15.32 per cent. The number of inpatients continued its downtrend and came in at 18,863.
Health Minister Veena George said here that the guidelines on deaths were notified to facilitate the issue of certificates without delay or putting the next of kin to undue hassles even while ensuring that all affected parties stand to benefit. These will formally come into effect from October 10.
A Covid Death Audit Committees will be set up in all districts comprising the Additional District Magistrate (Additional District Collector), the District Medical Officer, Additional District Medical Officer/District Surveillance Medical Officer (Covid), Head of Medicine of a Government Medical College in the district, and Head of Infectious Diseases or a public health expert (wherever possible).
An e-health death information website, https://covid19kerala.gov.in/deathinfo, has been set up as an additional repository for aggregating death data. All Covid-related deaths will be published on this website. If any known case of death is left out, the next of kin can make an application for inclusion.
This apart, the public can make a request to make corrections to/review of the official death statistics maintained by the State Health Department. A decision on the request will be executed online as well. All these new features will come into effect from October 10, the Minister said.
Requests may be made
Requests may also be made with respect to deaths even earlier for issue of certificates in the new format. The applicants need to mention the death registration number recorded by the office of the relevant local self-government body jurisdiction.
Requests received in this manner will be subjected to detailed review and investigation before the official Covid-19 death certificate is issued. This will be conveyed to the Chief Registrar and Registrar of Births and Deaths and the entire case closed within 30 days, the Minister said.
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