Mysore/Mysuru: Death certificate data is used to monitor local, regional, and national mortality trends to improve public health and public safety. Accurate death certification related to Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is vital to understand the extent and progression of the pandemic. 

However, the death certificates issued by the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) do not mention “COVID death” even if the person has died of virus infection. Experts argue that death certificate data can inform the public and policy-makers on the progress of COVID-19 pandemic and provide important information about who is dying, where they are from, and what were their associated medical conditions. 

The social media is rife with posts that say if a person dies due to COVID-19 in any of the government or private-run hospitals or COVID Care Centres and if a death certificate is obtained where COVID is mentioned as the cause of death, the Government gives compensation for the family members. However, the actual fact is that COVID is not mentioned in the death certificate at any cost. 

“The death certificates issued by the Mysuru City Corporation, K.R. Hospital, COVID Hospital or any other hospital or a care facility for that matter do not mention COVID as a Cause of Death (COD),” Anil Christie, MCC Statistical Officer, told Star of Mysore. 

He reasoned that as per protocol and guidelines issued by the Centre and the State Governments, in case the person dies of Coronavirus, the reason for death is not mentioned as COVID. “Nationwide, the death certificate application does not have a ‘Column 6’ where usually the cause of death is mentioned. As this column itself is not printed in the application, the necessity of mentioning the cause of death does not arise,” he said. 

The national standards of death reporting have been laid down by the Office of Registrar General of India (ORGI) under its Civil Registration System. This is followed across the nation, he added. As per Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, and Karnataka Registration of Births and Deaths rules, the COVID deaths cannot be made public, he said. 

“In the ‘Column 6’, details like the deceased person’s name, date, time and place of death, name of parents, name of wife or husband, permanent address, registration certificate and the date of issuing the certificate along with the details of the certificate issuing authority is mentioned along with the signature of the issuing officer. 

However, in the death report prepared by MCC, the cause of death is mentioned but the same is not mentioned in the death certificate. The death reports are only for officials to refer. People can approach the MCC and pay Rs. 5 at the birth and death certificate section and obtain the death certificate, Anil explained. 

If a person dies at any government hospital including the K.R. Hospital, applications can be submitted to the concerned Resident Medical Officer (RMO)and death certificate can be obtained by the relatives of the deceased. “As per rules, if a person dies at District COVID Hospital, death certificate must be issued there itself. As of now there is no such facility and the relatives of patients face a lot of difficulties. A separate counter will be established there and will be connected to the main server of MCC to issue death certificates. This will take a week’s time,” he added. 

Number of post-mortems decline 

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic rocked Mysuru, there has been a drastic decline in the post-mortems as there are not many reports of unnatural deaths. Usually, post-mortems of people dying due to unnatural causes are performed at Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCR&I). 

Though the deaths due to COVID have seen a spike, the District Administration is treating the deaths as natural and moreover the bodies of persons dying due to virus infection are not subjected to post-mortem. Even the cremation/ burial are performed by the District Administration. 

As a lockdown was imposed in March-April, there was severe restriction on movements and businesses. As such, there has been a drastic reduction of accidents and rivalry-related murders. So naturally, there has been a decline in post-mortems. 

Usually, in city every day over 15 to 20 post-mortems are conducted as deaths are reported and people were dying due to various unnatural reasons. Every month, over 600 to 650 post-mortems are conducted every month and now the number has come down to 150 to 160. But instances of unclaimed bodies have seen a rise, sources said.