In a first, the West Bengal government has linked 57 deaths to the novel Coronavirus after the inter-ministerial central teams, deputed to assess the ground situation, questioned state’s decision to form an audit committee to decide on COVID-19 fatalities.

The IMCTs have submitted their initial findings of the ground situation in West Bengal to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

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So far, Bengal had reported only 18 deaths, but now, Bengal’s audit committee itself has revealed, according to a report in NDTV, that 57 COVID-19 patients had died in the state of which 39 were due to co-morbidities.

Only 18 of the deaths were because of COVID-19, Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha told reporters. “Balance 39 deaths were due to comorbidities and COVID-19 was incidental,” Sinha said.

The Inter-Ministerial Central Teams deputed to West Bengal, after visit to two hospitals in the state, had written to the chief secretary citing several anomalies in the healthcare facilities including five-day or longer waiting time for test results of patients in isolation wards, bodies lying on beds for four hours while death certificate is made instead of sending it to mortuary, among others.

The letter has also questioned the number of repeat tests and first-time patients after the state had informed that that its testing rate had gone up from around 400 a day to 900 per day.

The IMCT also sought an explanation on the methodology used by ‘Committee of Doctors’ in West Bengal to ascertain death due to COVID-19 and also if it is in line with ICMR guidelines. The central team also sought an interaction with this committee to understand their methodology.

The Centre had on April 20 deputed two IMCTs for West Bengal to make on-spot assessment of situation and issue necessary directions to state authorities for its redressal and submit their report to central government in larger interest of general public.

The IMCTs focus on range of issues including compliance and implementation of lockdown measures as per guidelines, supply of essential commodities, social distancing, preparedness of the health infrastructure, safety of health professionals and conditions of relief camps for labour and poor people.

The Centre’s decision to send the team has triggered a big row, with the Trinamool Congress government of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioning the need for such a delegation.

Mamata had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, describing the Centre’s decision as “unilateral”, and alleging it was sent without prior intimation, causing “breach of established protocol”.

She also dubbed the Union government’s selection of districts with ‘serious’ COVID-19 situation as a “figment of imagination”.

On Tuesday, the teams which have been deputed to Jalpaiguri and Kolkata in West Bengal had complained of not getting cooperation from the state government and the local administration. It was informed that the teams were being stopped from visiting the region and not given the scope to interact with health workers, or assess the ground level situation.

They drove through various parts of the city only late in the afternoon following a strongly-worded letter from the Centre to the state after the teams were asked to stay put at a Border Security Force (BSF) facility since morning.

West Bengal had reported its first death on March 23, after an elderly man who tested positive for Coronavirus, died.