Nearly 3,400 COVID-19 Reports Missing in MP, Alleges Jan Swasthya Abhiyan
Representational image. | Image Courtesy: The Week
Bhopal: Public health watchdog organisation, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) on Monday alleged that nearly 3,400 COVID-19 test reports were ‘missing’ in Madhya Pradesh.
Referring to the State Health Department’s May 17 to May 23 COVID-19 bulletin, JSA claimed massive discrepancies in the total number of tested patients and the total received results.
“On May 17, the health bulletin says, total 1,03,898 people have been tested in the State, including 4,221 people on the day. While on May 18, the bulletin says, total 5,373 people have tested and their results declared on the same day. After addition of May 18 total tests with the total figure, the tally should be 1,09,271, but the bulletin mentions 1,12,168 total tests. Hence, there is a no clarification on the 2,879 test reports,” JSA said in a press release issued here on Tuesday.
Pointing out more discrepancies, JSA said that on May 18, 19 and 21, a total of 3,389 (2897+72+420) reports were missing without any explanation in the bulletin, while on May 20, 22 and 23, test reports of 2,054 people (639+625+790) exceeded the total reports carried out in the day.
Newsclick had earlier highlighted discrepancies in the total tests carried out in Madhya Pradesh and the backlog cases in the state in an April 29 report.
Read Also: COVID-19: MP’s Spike in Cases Down to Backlog in Testing?
“After the media highlighted discrepancies in COVID-19 data, the State Health Department stopped mentioning the total tests carried out in the state and pending cases. And now, a total of 3,389 reports are missing,” said Amulya Nidhi of JSA.
Nidhi said on the first week of May, Sate Health Minister Narottam Mishra had claimed that the state had no pending cases, but the data suggests otherwise.
The public health organisation also alleged that the hotspot of COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh -- Indore -- also had 54 missing reports.
Neither State Health Minister Narottam Mishra nor Health Commissioner Faiz Ahmad Kidwai could be reached out for their comments.
Till date, the state has more than 6,500 COVID-19 cases with 52% of recovery rate.
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