IMCT asks West Bengal to explain ‘methodology’ to ascertain deaths due to COVID-19

New Delhi: The Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) on Friday wrote to West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, asking him to explain the methodology used by ‘committee of doctors’ in the State to ascertain deaths due to COVID-19 and also if it is in line with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines.

In the letter to Sinha, the IMCT head Apurva Chandra, Additional Secretary with the Central government, said that they are not convinced with the West Bengal government’s reasoning that if a COVID-19 patient in the State dies in a road accident, then he/she cannot be said to have died of the coronavirus.

“Principal Secretary, Health, in his presentation on April 23, gave some reasons for the establishment of the committee of doctors and also mentioned that if a COVID-19 patient dies in a road accident, he cannot be said to have died of COVID. The IMCT did not find the reasoning convincing as there is no comparison between a road death and a death in a hospital due to disease,” said Chandra in the letter.

Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) writes to the West Bengal Chief Secretary to explain methodology used by ‘Committee of Doctors’ in West Bengal to ascertain death due to #COVID19 and also if it is in line with ICMR guidelines. pic.twitter.com/JFdsJN6t0W

— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2020

In order to understand the formation of committee better, the IMCT head asked the state Chief Secretary to respond to a few queries which include — the government order constituting the committee of doctors to declare the cause of death for COVID patients, case records of all COVID patients where the cause of death is attributed to some other cause by the committee, time taken by the committee in coming to its conclusion, whether such a committee to ascertain the cause of death exists for any other disease in West Bengal and whether such a committee is in line with ICMR guidelines or medical practice.

Chandra said the IMCT also sought interaction with the ‘committee of doctors’ to understand their methodology.

This week, the Union Home Ministry-constituted IMCTs visit coronavirus hotspots for assessment, issue directions to combat the spread of the lethal virus in those areas and submit a report to the Central government.

Sinha has assured that the state will follow the order under the Disaster Management Act and the directions of the Supreme Court regarding the assessment of the ground-level situation in the backdrop of COVID-19 lockdown. (ANI)