According to the death and birth registers in these cities, Mumbai recorded 17.93 per cent lower deaths in April 2020. Chandigarh 15.5 per cent. Then, Jaipur 73 per cent and the last Indore 78 per cent compared with April last year. In these cities April 2020 also reported lower deaths compared to this year’s first three months.
These cities’ municipal officials gave 2 explanations for the dip.
First, in Mumbai and Chandigarh, officials said the smaller deaths recorded were due to a decrease in the number of fatal accidents. And then, less natural deaths reported from major hospitals receiving large numbers of patients from neighboring districts and states.
The Death Cases Increased Gradually
Mumbai reported 5,536 deaths in April 2020. It compared with 6,752 in April 2019 and 6,740 in the same month in 2018. Officials said some pending April entries would be revised in May. It may reduce the discrepancy between April this year’s number of fatalities and prior years. Deaths registered in March 2020 fell by 22.28 per cent compared to March 2019.
In April of this year Chandigarh recorded 236 deaths compared with 205 in April 2019. This year the number of deaths registered was significantly lower than those registered in March, 2020, official statistics shows. Dr. G Dewan, director of health services, said the department was keeping a close eye on birth and death statistics due to the Covid-19.
Second, the officials in Jaipur and Indore acknowledged that their database does not reflect full records of deaths. It is in the respective cities as records were not properly maintained due to lockdown.
Jaipur, who has 56 mortality in Covid-19 cases so far, recorded 858 total mortality cases in April 2020 compared to 3,088 in April 2019. A official of the Jaipur municipal corporation said there was a delay in sending death and birth records by different agencies as most offices were closed during lockdown.
