1/n: While our colleagues have been reporting about families struggling and overwhelmed crematoria, forcing staff to work multiple shifts, I'd been trying to get numbers to see what this means. Here: For every Covid-19 death reported in B'luru, at least 2 bodies are cremated.
2/n: Long queues of ambulances and hearses outside crematoria, prima facie, appeared as a logistics issue but data from 12 dedicated crematoria collated between Mar 1&Apr 26 shows: For every Covid-19 death reported in Bengaluru, at least 2 bodies are being cremated.
3/n: Sample this: Crematoria staff from these places have cremated 3,104 bodies under Covid protocol in 57 days, while official number of deaths was only 1,422. The govt is yet to report deaths of 1,682 patients, which makes the gap in reporting and cremations more than double.
4/n: Even if around 10%-12% (310-465) of these are bodies cremated using Covid protocols but of patients whose results were awaited, the difference, after discounting these numbers, is still around double the reported numbers.
5/n: Also, these (test result-pending) bodies would be offset by the numbers from some of the smaller facilities under BBMP, the Christian and Muslim burial grounds among others, data for which are not immediately available.
6/n: A Suresh, secretary, Ambedkar DSS, which represents the crematoria staff says they pointed to the problem in late March but nothing was done. Of the 12 facilities that I procured data from, Sumanahalli has handled the most bodies, 571, followed by Kengeri (502).
7/n: BBMP chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta said: “I don’t have the exact difference, but we know that there’s a gap. But given how sensitive the issue is, we are not turning away bodies that come from neighbouring districts, which could be adding to numbers at crematoria.”
8/n: But analysis of deaths from three neighbouring districts — Kolar (28), Chikkaballapur (14) and Bengaluru Rural (52) — shows that only 94 deaths were added in the said 57 days. Which means that even after adding these numbers, the under-reporting is still apparent.
9/n: BBMP JC, Sarfaraz Khan, said: “I’ve checked with the registrar in-charge of deaths and the gap in cremations and deaths appear to be correct..."
10/n: "...However, they are also taking in bodies from other districts and those of ILI/SARI cases. That is, their Covid report is negative, but CT scans are showing Covid-like symptoms. These are not included in the official database. The difference could be becasue of that.”
12/n: Dr HM Prasanna, president, PHANA, had told me last week: “Nearly 30% of all RT-PCR tests are showing negative in the past few weeks, but CT scans show Covid-like deterioration in the lungs. The govt is not allowing us to admit such patients under the Covid quota.”
n/n: Suresh said that the massive increase in deaths has staff working round the clock even as additional manpower is being added on an ad-hoc basis.
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