Data on COVID deaths in India: Lessons for building a robust healthcare system
The Sample Registration System (SRS)'s death rate data for 2020 exposes the weakness of recording deaths in India when a massive pandemic strikes. The SRS estimates are the closest to reality, but they too could be underestimates because of their conservative approach.
Prameela K
Published on: 28 September 2022, 07:39 am
The Sample Registration System (SRS)'s death rate data for 2020 exposes the weakness of recording deaths in India when a massive pandemic strikes. The SRS estimates are the closest to reality, but they too could be underestimates because of their conservative approach.
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Why is the SRS 2020 data important?
THE routine annual Sample Registration System (SRS)-Statistical Report for 2020, like each year, provides the demographic dynamics of India. It passed off without much fanfare after being published. But the 2020 SRS Report is critical from the perspective of deaths because 2020 was the first year of COVID; we saw death all around, and it was expected that the number of deaths for the year would be substantially higher as compared to the previous year.
The officially reported COVID death figure for 2020 is 1,52,539 for the period ending December 31, 2020. How authentic is this data? The SRS crude death rate data for 2020 was released a few days ago. What do these figures tell us about deaths in 2020?
Also read: Several Studies Using Diverse Methods Point to Undercounting of COVID-19 Deaths, Govt in Denial
