New Delhi: The day after the World Health Organization claimed in its report that more than 47,000 people had died in India from the Covid 19 pandemic, the Delhi government issued a counter-argument on Friday, stating that all figures in the capital were “genuine and correct.”
“Delhi numbers are authentic and correct. Almost 25,600 deaths have taken place and each of them has been counted. In Delhi, the data has not been fudged even for a single death. I cannot comment on the data for the entire country or other states but no Covid death in the national capital has gone uncounted,” Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said.
“We have counted neither one death more nor one death less. Delhi is the capital city of the country and is it possible that someone dies of Covid here and doesn’t get a death certificate?” he asked.
According to the WHO report, there have been 4.7 million Covid-19 deaths in India – which is 10 times the official figure and almost a third of Covid deaths globally. During the period, for which India was estimated by WHO as having recorded 4.7 million deaths due to Covid-19, directly or indirectly, the country recorded an official death toll of roughly 520,000.
However, the center rejected WHO data because it was “defective.”
“India has been consistently objecting to the methodology adopted by WHO to project excess mortality estimates based on mathematical models. Despite India’s objection to the process, methodology and outcome of this modelling exercise, WHO has released the excess mortality estimates without adequately addressing India’s concerns,” the government said in a statement.
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