Why is the govt underreporting COVID deaths all over India?
Mafazah Sharafuddin
May 5, 2021
There have been several claims of undercounting the number of COVID deaths on the part of the government. This is a result of several factors, but most significantly, the number of corpses piling up in crematoriums and burial grounds. According to those who run crematoriums, the number of deaths due to COVID sent for cremation is much higher than what is disclosed by the government.
This issue isn’t limited to any one state, as there have been reports of the same in several states, including Karnataka, UP and the capital, Delhi. The crisis of having too many bodies and insufficient means to dispose of them is making people notice. NGOs are helping with cremations outside crematoriums, in parks etc. The crematoriums themselves are working towards building more cremation platforms.
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COVID-19 virus variants from India detected in Singapore: What you need to know
Relatives of a person who died of COVID-19 mourn outside a field hospital in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, May 4, 2021. COVID-19 infections and deaths are mounting with alarming speed in India with no end in sight to the crisis. (Photo: AP/Rafiq Maqbool)
25 May 2021 11:35AM) Share this content
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SINGAPORE: As of May 3, the Ministry of Health (MOH) has found 29 COVID-19 local cases that were infected with variants of concern or interest.
Virus variants from India detected in Singapore: What you need to know channelnewsasia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from channelnewsasia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The country is experiencing its worst spate of Covid-19 community infections in close to a year, in a painful reminder of how the virus situation can flare up without warning.
But if contact tracing, testing and quarantine protocols are as effective as before, and people do not let their guard down, the current situation could come under control within the next week or so, experts said.
The Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) cluster, with 27 people infected, is the nation’s first hospital cluster and comprises staff and patients. One patient, an 88-year-old woman, has died.
The recent cases show that nobody can relax, not even for a moment, stressed Prof Teo Yik Ying, dean of the National University of Singapore’s Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health.
By Ivan Lim
Former AJA President, Contributor to AsiaN
SINGAPORE: Days after being rated the safest place to be during the COvid-19 pandemic, Singapore has been hit by a sudden jump in new community cases, jolting the authorities to impose new restrictions on citizens’ gatherings and travels of foreigners to the Republic.
Only last week the city-state was lauded in the latest Bloomberg Covid-19 Resilience Ranking as tops in tackling the Coronavirus with local infection cases down to single digits plus and a strict regime of tests, contact tracing and quarantine for entry of foreigners.
A fifth of the 5.7 million residents have also been vaccinated, outdoing New Zealand, Taiwan and Australia. Singaporeans have largely resumed a post-Covid normal of work, leisure and religious activities.