'1,000 COVID-19 deaths in Mumbai not added to the state's fatality toll': Devendra Fadnavis

Devendra Fadnavis, on Thursday wrote to Uddhav Thackeray, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra alleging that 1,000 deaths in the city of Mumbai have not been reported in the state’s overall coronavirus fatality toll.

Fadnavis further took to Twitter as he mentioned that the state government had earlier shown 1,328 additional deaths as a part of a data reconciliation exercise after he submitted his letter. According to Fadnavis, the data pertaining to the patients who died from the coronavirus outside the hospitals have not been etched on record yet.

Why 1000 out-of-hospital deaths in Mumbai were suppressed?
My letter to CM Hon Uddhav Thackeray ji..
रूग्णालयाबाहेर झालेले मुंबईतील 1000 मृत्यू का दडवले?
मुख्यमंत्री मा. उद्धव ठाकरेजी यांना पत्र...#coronainmaharashtra pic.twitter.com/MTfSIhp31V

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) June 25, 2020

The former CM further stressed that it was of utmost importance to add the deaths to the state’s fatality toll. Fadnavis further said that to gradually add the deaths over months is a wrong strategy. He added that the data was necessary to understand and analyse the spread of the coronavirus in the city of Mumbai. Therefore, it should be added to the records immediately. Fadnavis further called upon Thackeray to make sure that there is an absence of delay in the reporting of COVID-19 deaths.

The COVID-19 tally of Maharashtra had earlier soared to 1,47,740 after 4,841 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday, June 25. With 3661 patients being discharged in the day, the total number of recovered rose to 77,453. 192 deaths were reported on Thursday, propelling the state's fatality toll to 6,931.

A Central team led by Lav Aggarwal, the Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Health is said to visit Maharashtra from June 26-29. In the midst of the criticism about the handling of the COVID-19 situation in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Telangana, this decision has been taken. The team is touted to interact with the state officials and coordinate with them to strengthen the ongoing efforts with regards to the coronavirus. While Maharashtra and Gujarat have seen a rising number of novel coronavirus cases, Telangana's COVID-19 fight has often been criticized for not conducting enough testing.