Delhi health secretary Padmini Singla has written a letter to all district magistrates highlighting the unusual trend of rising Covid cases in the national capital and decreasing number of containment zones. Delhi reported 500 new cases Tuesday, taking the total to 10,554, but the containment zones have come down from 97 a few weeks ago to 66 as on Wednesday. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has allowed shops to open on odd-even basis, and public transport to resume in a staggered manner.
ThePrint asks: Discrepancy in Delhi Covid data: Is Arvind Kejriwal govt being transparent enough?
Hospitals across Delhi providing Covid data consistently. No question of fudging figures
Somnath Bharti
AAP MLA and lawyer
Transparency, accountability and honesty have been the hallmarks of the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi. The reason the Delhi health secretary has requested the district magistrates to list positive cases in their areas is not because data has been hidden. If anything, it is part of Delhi government’s endeavour to compile comprehensive Covid data. Also, if hospitals across the city are consistently providing Covid data – where is the question of fudging facts?
There are a few reasons why Covid cases are rising in Delhi. One, the rate of testing has been ramped up and Delhi being the national capital, initially had a large influx of foreigners who brought the virus. We must also remember that initially even mild Covid cases were being hospitalized, but of late, they have been allowed to self-quarantine at home. This means that though the city’s tally of Covid cases is going up, initially recorded cases have gone from severe to mild, and are no longer a serious threat.
Also, our containment zone protocol has been modified. We are no longer closing off an entire street or locality due to the emergence of one case – we are just stamping the house in which the infected person lives.
During the lockdown period, everyone, including the government has better understood Corona, its effects and how to cope up with situations arising out of it. If everybody lives with a sense of responsibility qua Corona, and follow all safety measures, we can comfortably sail through this crisis.
Delhi govt does not have a transparent criteria for demarcating containment zones
Ajay Maken
Congress leader
On 29 April, there were 102 containment zones in Delhi when the total number of cases were just over 3,000. But Tuesday, when cases touched the 10,000 mark, the containment zones have dropped to 66. It shows there is no transparent criteria for demarcating containment zones and I predict, this is the reason Covid cases show no signs of abating in the national capital.
There is also a discrepancy in the total number of deaths in Delhi. As of May 15, there have been 443 cremations as per Covid-19 protocol but according to my municipal councillors, this figure could be around 650. Despite this, the Delhi government’s official number of deaths is 166. Not to mention that over the last two months, the Delhi government has stopped providing data on three fronts: exact number of positive cases per day, number of pending test samples and how many cases are traced and untraceable. If we don’t know how many cases are untraceable, it raises a larger question: is there community spread?
Delhi’s discrepancy in data has also revealed itself in another state. It has been found that 26 per cent of migrants returning to Bihar from Delhi tested positive for Covid. This is by far the highest compared to any other state. This is not to be confused with testing rates conducted in Delhi. These are the ones independently conducted on all returning migrants to Bihar.
Kejriwal govt needs to be transparent with its data, have logical approach towards Covid situation
Sudhanshu Mittal
Spokesperson, BJP
The diligence with which the Covid crisis should have been tackled by the Delhi government is missing. Delhi is seeing at least 500 new Covid cases every day, and yet the number of containment zones has been reduced from 97 to 66. The instructions from the Narendra Modi government at the Centre are very specific: the containment zones are marked if more than 4 cases of coronavirus are reported. Suppressing data on testing creates a false impression that the disease has been contained when in fact it is not the case. This is a disservice to the citizens of Delhi and inhibits inefficiency in tackling the virus. We’ve unfortunately seen something similar with the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal that fudged data on Covid deaths.
What makes Delhi’s lack of transparency even more worrisome is that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has allowed relaxation of lockdown curbs, especially for public transport. I was horrified to see visuals of Delhi buses Tuesday- they were crowded with people violating social distancing norms. It shows that these relaxations are not being implemented cautiously or in a strict manner. While Kejriwal’s quest to resume economic activity and generate revenue for the state is understandable, it cannot risk people’s lives.
The AAP government needs to not only be transparent with its data, but also logical in its approach towards the Covid situation.
Political one-upmanship between BJP and AAP to be blamed for ‘unreliable’ covid data in Delhi
Indranil Mukhopadhyay
Associate Professor, Jindal School of Government and Public Policy and member, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan
This is not a Delhi-specific problem as there have been claims of severe under reporting in other states like Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. This is a national trend that is a reflection of a weak healthcare system. Reliable data makes for a good health system, and ultimately helps tackling a public health crisis.
I think the reason Covid data is being concealed is because of political one-upmanship. States’ Covid response is being judged by their Covid numbers, which prompts political stakeholders to do what they can to appear like they are performing better. But this distances them from the true nature of the disease.
Data reporting is most challenging in Delhi because it has a complex health system. The state government, led by the Aam Aadmi Party, has very few facilities while the municipal corporations, run by the Bharatiya Janata Party, controls most of the public health action and runs hospitals and there are Central Institutions. Due to lack of coordination between them, along with low testing and shortage of frontline workers, Covid cases continue to rise in Delhi.
However, the Modi government also has a role to play. It compromised national Covid data by stopping reporting of the age-old Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP). Despite its limitations, you simply cannot halt a scientific system developed over many years, especially during an emergency where situation is evolving rapidly and responses need to be prompt. Without IDSP data states are finding it difficult to plan.
Also read: Delhi has registered 443 ‘Covid funerals’ since 14 March, four times the govt death figures
By Pia Krishnankutty, journalist at ThePrint
I have one single question. Despite being frontline as police, doctors, medical support staff, drivers, municipal workers etc who have all got hit by the desease. However not a single journalist, who also claim to be frontline has got infected or died so far.. why ? Is it that journalist is more dangerous than a covid virus or that journalist are not animals who are not getting Infected… When will we hear a news that xyz nos of journalist die of covid.. or we would never..
Something is not adding up. The number of deaths due to Covid is far more important than the number of cases. There should not be such a large discrepancy between officially reported figures and records of cremations. Similarly, a batch of 26% of migrants returning to Bihar from Delhi testing positive. No one is blaming Governor of New York for the high number of cases / deaths. Be honest and forthcoming with the data.