Bengal’s Coronavirus Death Count Mess: Union Health Ministry Makes Correction, Raises Numbers

Central government has finally put an end to the confusion over West Bengal’s coronavirus numbers. Even on May 5, Bengal claimed 61 patients had died of the virus in the state & 72 other deaths linked to COVID-19 were of patients who had co-morbidities or existing health problems. However, the Union Health Ministry refused to accept these figures. It added the two figures and put up 133 COVID-19 deaths in Bengal on its website on May 6. This comes on the basis of a revamped data sheet uploaded by the Bengal health department on May 5 evening. For the very first time, it included a list of deaths due to co-morbidities also. On May 6, Bengal home secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay, following the usual format, said seven virus patients had died in the last 24 hours and the number now stands at 68. If Bandopadhyay had referred to the health ministry’s data, the number would have come to 140. Confusion over the number of deaths deepened further on May 5 when two sets of Bengal government data came into circulation. Set shared by the state's ruling Trinamool showed 133 deaths with no mention of the co-morbidity deaths. However, the state's health department site said there were 61 deaths and 72 co-morbidity deaths. Reportedly, poll strategist Prashant Kishor has a role in the state government's attempts to unravel the data mess. Kishor’s intervention at this juncture is important as Mamata Banerjee faces assembly elections exactly a year away from now provided the coronavirus outbreak permits the same.