Pune: Startling revelations were made during the review meeting with Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday by Mayor Murlidhar Mohol who claimed that about 400 to 500 deaths being reported from government and private hospitals as not placed on record as COVID-19 by the hospital administration as they are either brought dead on arrival or succumb to the disease immediately after being admitted and before any treatment starts.

If these deaths are counted as Covid-19 deaths, then the case-fatality ratio will be much higher in Pune city and district and hence CM Thackeray should set up an inquiry in this matter, Mohol demanded.

As per the Indian Council of Medical Research and central government guidelines, Covid-19 tests are not conducted post-mortem. When an X-ray of the deceased patient’s chest is taken, it shows symptoms of Covid-19 disease. However, despite this evidence the deaths of these patients are not counted in the official numbers of deaths due to Covid-19. 

In Sassoon General Hospital alone, 10 to 12 such cases are reported daily. The count of such cases in Sassoon hospital alone is 300 to 350. If private hospital count is added to this, then every month about 500 deaths are not placed ‘on-record’ as Covid-19 deaths by the health officials and health administration. The state government should take immediate necessary precautionary steps to avoid such cases, Mohol said while addressing media persons after the meeting.

Mohol also clarified that he is not putting the blame on the administration for this under-reporting of Covid-19 cases. “I am not blaming anyone, but this is a fact and such incidents should be prevented. It is quite evident that there is a lack of coordination between government officials and private hospitals and the high death rate in the city was also highlighted by the Central governments monitoring team which recently visited the city,” he said.