Gujarat revises Covid death figures to nearly 20,000 in submission to SC

In its submission to the Supreme Court on Monday on the compensation paid to the kin of those who lost their lives in Covid-19 pandemic, the Gujarat government has officially accepted a revised figure of 19,964 as against the previous figure of 10,098.

The apex court on Monday was hearing both Gujarat and Maharashtra on steps taken for processing compensation to the families who lost their members to Covid-19 pandemic, based on SC guidelines. The Supreme Court had asked state governments to also spread the word on such compensation schemes, especially to those in remote villages.

In its submission, the Gujarat government informed the apex court that of the total 34,678 applications received for Rs 50,000 compensation, payments were made towards 19,964 applications, which is nearly 100,00 higher than the previous official death record of 100,98.

“Earlier, the death figures were based on ICMR guidelines. However, the apex court had asked the states to follow additional guidelines such as considering deaths in the first 30 days of being Covid-19 positive or even those with comorbidities,” said a senior health department official of Gujarat government.

With this, the total number of Covid deaths in the country would go up to approximately 485,000.

Meanwhile, asking Maharashtra government to speed up the process of compensation, the apex court termed it “unfortunate” that only 8000 of total 87,000 applications were paid compensation. The rest of the states are yet to file their affidavits.

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