Maharashtra has never hidden or under-reported deaths, says Tope

Active tally rises again as new COVID-19 cases outweigh recoveries on Wednesday

Stressing that Maharashtra had never under-reported deaths during the pandemic, Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Wednesday clarified that the reconciliation of more than 3,500 deaths (carried out by health authorities till July 12) was primarily because private hospitals often failed to give real-time data pertaining to fatalities and cases to State health officials and upload the same information on the Centre’s portal. “Right from the start of the pandemic, I, along with divisional commissioners and district collectors, have been urging hospitals to provide real-time information of fatalities and upload them on the Centre’s portal…but this has not been happening regularly and there is a delay of a week or two in uploading the requisite information. However, we have been regularly reconciling this data and there is no question of hiding anything,” said Mr. Tope, in an interview to a vernacular channel.