Number of Covid-19 funerals in Madhya Pradesh raise underreporting fears
Hindustan TimesOn Tuesday, 84 bodies were cremated or buried in Bhopal with Covid-19 protocols, according to the officials of two crematoriums and a graveyard of Bhopal, even though the health department reported only five Covid-19 deaths in the city, and 40 across Madhya Pradesh. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the bodies were tested for Covid-19, in keeping with an Indian Council of Medical Research guideline issued last year during the first wave of the pandemic. Jehangirabad graveyard incharge Rehan Golden said, “We are digging the burial pit in advance as nine bodies reached the graveyard on Tuesday, which is highest number of bodies buried in a day in recent years.” It wasn’t immediately clear whether the bodies were tested for Covid-19, in keeping with an Indian Council of Medical Research guideline issued last year during the first wave of the pandemic. Rachna Dhingra, the convener of an organisation working for the victims of the Bhopal Gas tragedy, Bhopal Group of Information and Action, said: “On Monday and Tuesday, a gas tragedy victim had to wait 48 hours to get an ICU bed and his condition deteriorated due to delay in getting treatment.but patients are not getting ICU beds and oxygen supply equipped beds.