After SC's reprimand, Centre issues guidelines for Covid death certificate

New Delhi: The Centre has issued a new set of guidelines for issuing Covid death certificates after the Supreme Court had asked to submit an affidavit regarding the matter nearly 10 days ago.

The Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has jointly prepared the official document on September 3.

Accordingly, deaths occurring within 30 days from the date of testing or from the date of being clinically determined as a COVID-19 case, will be treated as deaths due to COVID-19, even if the death takes place outside the hospital/in-patient facility.

As per the new guidelines, patients who have "died either in hospital settings or at home, and where a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) in Form 4 and 4 A has been issued to the registering authority as required under Section 10 of the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969, will be treated as a COVID-19 death.

If someone died due to poisoning, suicide, homicide, and accident, among others, will not be considered as COVID-19 deaths even if the infection is an accompanying condition. 95% of deaths take place within 25 days of a person testing Covid-19 positive, said the affidavit citing an ICMR study.

The new guidelines say that the Covid-19 cases that have been diagnosed through RT-PCR test, molecular test, rapid-antigen test, or clinically determined through investigations at a hospital or in-patient facility by a treating physician will be considered.

If the Medical Certification of Cause of Death is not available or the family of the deceased is not satisfied with certification, states and union territories shall notify a committee at the district level. The committee will also examine the grievances and propose remedial measures including issuing an amended official death certificate after verifying facts.