Kerala follows ICMR, WHO guidelines to report Covid deaths, says Health Minister

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], August 4 : The Kerala government is following the ICMR and WHO guidelines to report covid deaths in the state, Veena George Kerala Health Minister said on Wednesday in the Assembly over the allegations of discrepancies in covid related deaths across the state.
A total of 13,325 covid deaths has been reported in the state till June 15, 2021, said Kerala health minister while replying to the questions of MLAs' in the Assembly.
RTPCR test result is mandatory to record COVID-19 deaths and it is upon the doctor concerned who treated the covid patient to decide whether the death is duw to COVID-19 or not, the health minister told the Assembly.
The minister further stated that from June 16, 2021 onwards, covid deaths are reported online from districts in a decentralised manner, and covid deaths from all the districts are uploaded in the state covid list after examining with the health officials concerned.
The list of people who died of covid is available within each district health office and it will be made available in the hospitals in all panchayats and from there people can check the list. Various committees are formed to monitor the covid situation in the state, added the Health minister.
However, Kerala recorded 23,676 new COVID-19 cases and 148 deaths on Tuesday.