In Gujarat’s Amreli town, people working with COVID-19 patients, and those working in crematoriums or graveyards do not believe the minuscule official count of COVID-19 deaths- a mere 102. 

The Reporters’ Collective analysed municipality death registers from 68 of 170 Gujarat towns. The data shows that in just April 2021 the number of excess deaths is higher than the state’s official death toll since the pandemic first began. 

Shreegireesh Jalihal and Tapasya, journalists with The Reporters’ Collective speak to experts to figure out what the data means and how authorities could have possibly fudged Covid data. The episode explains why we urgently need numbers of all-cause mortality from government authorities to analyse the possible extent of Covid-19 deaths since 2020. 

Beyond numbers, locals from Amreli recount the horrors they faced at the peak of the pandemic’s second wave. 

Show notes:

COVID-19 Tracker | Gujarat
Three New Estimates of India’s All-Cause Excess Mortality during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Excess mortality in India from June 2020 to June 2021 during the COVID pandemic: death registration, health facility deaths, and survey data