The Centre on Sunday submitted to the Supreme Court that all deaths caused by coronavirus diagnosis, irrespective of co-morbidities, are to be classified as deaths due to Covid-19.
Responding to a plea seeking directions for ex-gratia compensation to family members of those diseased due to complications pertaining to Covid-19, the Ministry of Home Affairs in an affidavit stated that the only exception could be where there is a clear alternative cause of death that cannot be attributed to Covid.
Also, so far covid fatalities have been labeled so if the patient has died inside a hospital, not at home or any place else. These factors have contributed in the mass discrepancy in fatality figures.
In order to claim compensation, a death certificate is required to establish that the death is due to Covid-19. However, death certificates in India do not include any information related to the cause of death of an individual.
In its 183-page affidavit, the Centre has cleared that all Covid deaths, wherever they take place should be certified as Covid deaths. The MHA further said that the states can continue to use their domicile death audit pro forma as long as long as it broadly takes into account the parameters suggested.