Guj, Telangana's Covid Death Claims 9, 7 Times Official Toll; Maha Fatalities Rise to 53, Highest in Over 100 Days

The number of Covid-19 death claims filed by Gujarat and Telangana in the Supreme Court far exceeded their official death toll – almost nine and seven time respectively. The gap between the official toll and compensation claims is, in absolute numbers, highest in Maharashtra, a Times of India report said. Although the number of claims is generally expected to be higher because of the SC’s broader definitions in its guidelines, the gap is still exceedingly high in a few states.

While number of claims received from Gujarat so far is 89,633 against the official toll of 10,094, in Telangana, close to 29,000 claims have been filed as opposed to the official 3,993 deaths, as per the TOI report. The SC has cleared 68,370 claims from Gujarat, disbursed compensation amount to 58,840 families, and rejected 4,234 applications. 15,270 claims have been approved in Telangana.

There have also been cases where the number of claims were lower than official toll in some states, probably resulting from lack of awareness of compensation in rural areas. The SC, in December, had directed all states to inform people of Covid-19 deaths compensation widely through print and electronic media, especially in vernacular newspapers.

Maharashtra, meanwhile, reported a rise in Covid-19 fatalities with 53 deaths on Tuesday. A day after low Covid numbers in the state, owing to lesser testing in weekends, daily cases went up by 26% and deaths by 120%. Maharashtra on Tuesday recorded 39,207 new coronavirus infections, whereas on Monday it was 31,111 new cases and 24 fatalities.

However, state surveillance officer Dr Pradeep Awate told TOI that the increase might be because of late reporting by some districts. “Also, these deaths should be seen in the perspective of the toll during the Delta wave. During the April-May period, Maharashtra would witness around 1000 deaths in a day,” he said.

Even as the Omicron wave has begun declining in Mumbai, BMC officials expect that the wave will further dip significantly in the next fortnight. BMC additional commissioner Suresh Kakani said the tally will drop to three digits by January-end. Kakani, who conducted a Covid review on Tuesday, asked officials of jumbo Covid care centres to restrict admissions to one or two wards. “Bed occupancy remains low across the city. We can open up more when we have to,” he said.

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