Health dept tallies inter-district Covid-19 data every month

BENGALURU: The Health and Family Welfare department corrects Covid-19 bulletin figures on a monthly basis as discrepancies crop up when patients move to another district after testing positive, get admitted there and pass away.

On October 5 this year, 14 deaths were recorded in the state, which means the total deaths increased from 37,832 to 37,846. However, the figure reported in the bulletin was 37,845. A similar discrepancy was spotted on November 4, when five deaths should have taken the total from 38,091 to 38,096, but only 38,095 were reported.

In Bengaluru as well, one death was reported on November 4 which should have taken the city's toll from 16,285 to 16,286, but the reported figure was higher at 16,292. Health officials clarified that the total figures given in the bulletin are correct, and that reconciliation is happening between districts. Explaining the situation, an official said that in some cases, the patient would have tested positive in one district (say Bengaluru) and got the Patient code (P code) against Bengaluru. The patient would have later got admitted in another district, say Tumakuru. In the event of death, Tumakuru officials would have recorded the death against Tumakuru though the P code is generated against Bengaluru.

“As this does not tally properly for Bengaluru, the department later corrects or reconciles the figures and registers the death against Bengaluru. Hence, the change is done between district figures. For the figures of November 3 and 4 for Karnataka, the deaths and discharges of 18 districts were reconciled,” the official said. For the figures of October 4 and 5, eight positive cases of Uttara Kannada and Vijayapura were exchanged by mistake, and later corrected. One of the deaths was duplicated in two districts and corrected later on. Therefore, one death was reduced for Uttara Kannada. They reiterated that the total figures given in the daily Covid-19 bulletin are accurate.