Bengaluru: On Tuesday, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar the Karnataka Assembly that state’s Covid-19 mortality rate was decreasing, despite the Congress’ assertion that the BJP government is suppressing the actual numbers.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, while addressing the House, claimed that for every one lakh people infected with Covid-19, 272 were dying in the state. He added that, according him, Karnataka stood 7th in India with regard to the mortality rate.
Intervening during the Opposition leader’s speech, Minister Sudhakar said that the “mortality rate is 1.36% in Bengaluru and 1.54% in Karnataka”.
It was when Dr Sudhakar said this that Congress leader Eshwar Khandre accused the government of suppressing the number of deaths.
An irked Dr Sudhakar rebuffed the accusation stating that the state had received the Indian Council for Medical Research’s (ICMR) appreciation regarding their data disclosure. He assured that nobody is giving the wrong numbers and that the state is disclosing the proper data when it comes to testing, deaths and treatment.
Congress leader from Mangaluru and former health minister UT Khader said the percentage of the mortality rate was misleading, adding that a low percentage doesn’t mean that the number of deaths are low.
Dr Sudhakar countered by saying that it was important that the number of recoveries be noted. He pointed out that if there were no recoveries, how will the death rate come down? “Recovery is directly proportional to fatality,” the Minister said, adding that Karnataka’s target was to keep the fatality rate below 1%, as per a report by DH.
