Excess deaths in Hyderabad are 10 times the official COVID-19 toll for Telangana
Comparatively, the excess deaths’ multiple over the registered death toll in Kolkata and Chennai for 2021 was 4.5 and 3.3, in analyses published in The Hindu. The excess deaths in the corporation could not be compared to the GHMC's official COVID-19 death toll as the State does not publish the district-wise pandemic fatalities, unlike many other States in the country. In fact, on two instances, the Telangana High Court had pulled up the State government for not furnishing the proper tally of COVID-19 deaths.
The number of “excess deaths” registered in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) ever since
hit (from April 2020 to May 2021), is over 10 times the officially recorded figure of 3,275 deaths for the corresponding period in the entire State of Telangana. There were an estimated 32,752 “excess deaths” — 18,420 between April and December 2020 and 14,332 between January and May 2021.
Excess deaths in the GHMC were calculated based on the number of death certificates issued. The month-wise number for the last two years was accessed by The Hindu and compared with data for 2016 to 2019 that were obtained via an RTI. The 2021 figures were analysed till May 31.
For the first five months of 2021, the 14,332 excess deaths in the city corporation limits were 8.2 times more than the official COVID19 death toll of 1,740 for the entire State. These “excess deaths” were calculated as the difference between the 36,041 certified deaths in 2021 and the average number of certified deaths in the same period in the pre-pandemic years between 2016 and 2019 (21,709).
Comparatively, the excess deaths’ multiple over the registered death toll in Kolkata and Chennai for 2021 was 4.5 and 3.3, in analyses published in The Hindu.
The excess deaths in the corporation could not be compared to the GHMC’s official COVID-19 death toll as the State does not publish the district-wise pandemic fatalities, unlike many other States in the country. In fact, on two instances, the Telangana High Court had pulled up the State government for not furnishing the proper tally of COVID-19 deaths.
