The number of reported fatalities in Madhya Pradesh during the second wave of the pandemic was nearly three times higher than the number of fatalities recorded and shared in public space during same months in pre-Covid periods, indicating a likely major undercounting of COVID-19 mortality.
Official Covid mortality data, on the other hand, represent just a small portion of the reported excess fatalities.
According to statistics from the Civil Registration System, which was originally acquired by journalist Rukmini S, in the April-May period of 2018 and 2019, 59,000 fatalities were registered on average in Madhya Pradesh.
This isn’t the first time that the state of Madhya Pradesh’s Covid death statistics has been questioned. According to NDTV, 3,811 persons with Covid died in Bhopal district alone in April this year, according to information obtained from crematoriums and cemeteries. In April, though, there were just 104 Covid fatalities in the area, according to official statistics.
Requests for feedback from the Madhya Pradesh administration were not immediately returned.
With a 72 percent increase, Bihar’s significant adjustment of its Covid fatalities total to over 9,000 became contentious on Thursday, prompting new doubts. India claimed 6,148 more fatalities that day as a result of Bihar’s announcement, the greatest single-day increase ever.
