[Thread] For those who read my story on COVID death undercounting, and recall the story of Anup Majumdar, who succumbed from suspected COVID-19, but whose death was never counted as such by Bhopal https://science.thewire.in/health/india-mccd-comorbidities-covid-19-deaths-undercounting/ (1 of n)

Here is the latest development: following a request from @RachnaDhingra, the death audit committee explained why it did not classify Anup's death as a COVID-19 death (2 of n)

Broadly, the committee's rationale for not considering the death even a suspected COVID-19 death hinges on a) the fact that the patient suffered from a chronic respiratory illness b) the patient didn't live in a COVID-19 containment zone (3 of n)

Note that Bhopal saw > 1000 COVID-19 confirmed cases in June, when Anup fell ill. The city was seeing community transmission. So, the logic of saying the patient wasn't in a containment zone, and so, the case wasn't "epidemiologically linked" to COVID-19, is questionable (4 of n)

Also, as I reported, the doctor who treated him for chronic respiratory disease had also suspected COVID-19, given symptoms and imaging findings (discussed in my story). So, the argument that the death was due to chronic respiratory disease can also be questioned (5 of n)

But this story shows how easy it is to miss a COVID-19 death, if there is no intention or effort to capture it. And in many crowded public hospitals, there is frequently a lack of intention or effort (6 of n)

PS: All records shared with permission from the family of Anup. End of thread. (5 of 5)