Unjustified to say Covid-19 deaths are under-reported: Health Ministry

The Health ministry on Tuesday said it would be "thoroughly unjustified" to claim that deaths due Covid-19 are being under-reported in the country.

Responding to a question, Health Ministry Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said media reports claiming under-reporting of Covid-19 deaths in the country is "mere conjecture".

He said that in the initial phase of the pandemic, the ministry had issued clear-cut guidelines in consultation with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and keeping in view the WHO guidelines on how to report deaths.

"We found in the initial phase of the pandemic that there were certain states which were not reporting Covid