The Centre has asked Kerala to provide updated COVID-19 data daily stating that the bulk back-reporting after April 13 (a gap of five days on Monday) has skewed India’s key pandemic monitoring indicators including cases, deaths and the positivity rate.
“It has been observed that Kerala has reported its State-level COVID-19 data after a gap of five days [since April 13]. This has impacted and skewed the status of India’s key monitoring indicators such as cases, deaths and positivity. India has reported a 90% increase in new cases and 165% increase in positivity in a single day,” said Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal in his two-page communication.
He added that daily and diligent reporting of data were critical to arrive at a meaningful understanding of the pandemic situation and would help not only in tracking and monitoring but also in defining the strategies and plans at the Centre, State and district levels.
