The IMCT deputed to West Bengal had noted discrepancies in the number of Coronavirus cases reported by the state in its medical bulletins and its communications with the Central government.
The admission on discrepancies came after the IMCT, which left for New Delhi on Monday morning, wrote a letter to Sinha asking the state government not to downplay the spread of the virus and to be transparent and consistent in reporting figures.
IMCT leader Apurva Chandra, in his final observations, also wrote that West Bengal has the highest mortality rate in the country at 12.8 percent.
They have expressed concern as they said they do not have the exact information about fresh coronavirus affected persons and deaths. The concerns come at a time when an Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) that touring the region and that today went to Kalimpong has alleged noncooperation from the state administration, including the police in north Bengal.
The 44-year old woman died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital on 30 March. Some of her relatives, including those in Siliguri, had also come in contact with her before her death. Some of them tested positive for Covid- 19 and have now gone home after being cured in a Covid hospital in Siliguri.
The team has also asked the state government to furnish information on testing, quarantining and contact tracing of persons who returned from the mass gathering at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month. Currently, the total active Corona cases in Bengal is 423.
He alleged that the visit served no purpose and the real purpose was to spread the political virus.
In a letter to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the central team in north Bengal, led by senior bureaucrat Vineet Joshi, said more field officers are required to monitor and provide feedback about the effectiveness of various measures undertaken by the government.
The IMCTs, after visit to two hospitals in the state, had written to 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 Centre on April 20 had announced that Indore, Mumbai, Jaipur and Kolkata are among 11 cities in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and West Bengal where COVID-19 'situation is specially serious' and constituted six IMCTs to focus on the implementation of lockdown.
