State begins comprehensive audit of deaths in third wave

This is to ascertain if COVID-19 was the main cause

To identify deaths that can be attributed only to COVID-19 and the underlying cause in deaths where COVID-19 findings were incidental, the State has begun a comprehensive audit of deaths that happened during the third wave. Of the total 645 deaths that were reported in January, the audit of 596 deaths has been completed.

State Health Commissioner D. Randeep said all the districts and BBMP areas had been asked to audit the 645 deaths reported from January 1 till January 31. “So far, we have received 596 death audit reports and 49 are pending. The most common aspect noted is that a majority of the deaths happened within two days of reporting to hospitals. The deaths that happened in February are yet to be taken up for analysis,” he said.