According to reports, at least 9,500 people who should have been part of the ‘active cases’ list have been declared as recovered in the COVID-19 registry.
Latest figures from the Tamil Nadu Health department show that the number of active cases of COVID-19 in the state has come down from the 49,000 range to 48,482 on Thursday. The department has said that the number of people who have recovered and been discharged in Tamil Nadu is 6,185, higher than the 5,528 who had tested positive for coronavirus over the past 24 hours.
The total number of persons who had tested positive for coronavirus till date in Tamil Nadu was 486,052 while the total number of recovered patients stands at 429,416. The state recorded the deaths of 64 patients on Thursday taking the total tally till date to 8,154. The total number of active COVID-19 cases factoring in new infections, recovered persons and the dead, stands at 48,482.
However, a Times of India (ToI) report by Pushpa Narayan, questions the decrease in active cases projected by the state. The report states that at least 9.500 people who should have been part of the ‘active cases’ list had been declared as recovered in the COVID-19 registry. Experts reportedly fear that this change in numbers could portray a false rate of recovery in the state.
According to the report, from September 1, the state has seen over 58,000 cases of COVID-19 but on Thursday, the bulletin reported only 48,482 cases. The rest of the cases, ToI reports, were moved to the recovered list. This, despite the health department’s August 31 guidelines stating that a patient has to stay on the active list for at least 10 days.
When asked about the discrepancy in figures, the director of public health has reportedly said that there could be lack of accuracy from hospitals reporting the data. He further added that asymptomatic patients, those undergoing home quarantine or facing mild infection, could have been removed from the active list after testing negative.
State capital Chennai meanwhile continues to head the COVID-19 infection tally with 991 persons testing positive for the virus and its total tally stands at 145,606.
The number of infected children in the state in the age group of 0-12 is currently at 21,399.
(With inputs from IANS)
Source: The News Minute