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Goa: 9 private hospitals fail to report 67 deaths, 65 of them since March | Goa News – In Goa 24×7

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PANAJI: In a shocking revelation, the directorate of health services on Monday said nine private hospitals under-reported 67 Covid deaths in nine months— between August 5, 2020 and May 22, 2021—of which 65 deaths occurred during the past three months.
The 67 deaths were added to the cumulative tally, taking Goa’s fatality count to 2,841 that includes 13 deaths reported on Monday.
The state government has said that it will take strict action against the erring hospitals and will write to each hospital separately seeking an explanation as to why they “indulged in late reporting” of deaths under the Goa Public Health Act.
“We really don’t know the reasons for their doing so, but we don’t want a repeat of this,” state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betokdar said.
He said only two deaths were under-reported from the previous year. “The rest of the deaths reported late pertains to the past three months when more private hospitals started admitting Covid patients,” Betodkar told TOI.
“It is up to the government as to what action to take against the erring hospitals. Ideally, hospitals have to report mortalities in time as Covid-19 is a notifiable disease. Late reporting for 24-48 hours is understandable, but not for months,” he said.
On allegations that some private hospitals had initially under-reported deaths to show mortality count low, he said it didn’t appear that it was done purposely with mala fide intentions. “Everybody was busy treating patients and slips must have happened,” he said.
The mortality bulletin is released by Goa Medical College (GMC) after collating death figures received from South Goa District Hospital and the DHS. Private hospitals submit its data to the DHS, which submits it to GMC.
“The mortality bulletin contains deaths recorded during that day as well some from a previous day—comprising 24 hours period—and in a rare case, one or two deaths that may have happened a couple of days ago. This delay could be because the case warranted a post-mortem and could not be added to the count on the same day as the death was recorded,” Betodkar said.
When any hospital reports a case a week or two after the actual date of death, or even a month later, that data cannot be forwarded to the GMC, asking it to include in mortality bulletin for that day, he said.
When DHS noted that the total of late reported fatalities was 67, the matter was reported to the government asking what’s to be done next.
“The government decided that those figures have to be included in the Covid cumulative count in the mortality bulletin and reason would be given for action taken. It is done so that the public knows that these are previous deaths, but they are included in the total. We want to report all cases, and nothing is hidden. You can’t hide either cases or deaths in the pandemic because anything which you hide, will trouble you later,” Betodkar said.
But for evaluation and epidemiological purposes, the deaths will be shown on actual dates, he said.
“We would like to know the break-up of 67 deaths and how many of them occurred in private hospitals that are our members. Almost all our member-hospitals started Covid treatment facilities only in the latter half of the second wave of the pandemic,” Association of Private Nursing Home (APNH) secretary Ajit Mopkar said.
He said except Healthway Hospital, none of the other corporate or big hospitals are its members.
Mopkar said APNH is rarely invited for any important meetings, and it is also not part of the taskforce appointed to prepare for the third wave.
During the first wave, only four corporate hospitals in the state were admitting Covid patients and with the health infrastructure coming under severe strain during the second wave, other private hospitals started reserving beds for Covid patients only after the government issued an order in late April.



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Broke Swiggy guy walks 3 km to deliver food, Social media helps him find better job. Heartwarming story is viral

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Social media can be a wondrous place at times. While on most days, its ugly face is on display, on days like today, it sets examples of the power of kindness. In a social media post, a LinkedIn user shared how a delivery executive, in need of money and a better job, bagged one after the users on the platform came together to help the person out.

Priyanshi Chandel, Marketing Manager at tech company Flash, shared an incident about a Swiggy delivery agent who had come to deliver food at her residence. When she asked the late and out-of-breath delivery person, identified by her as Sahil Singh, about what happened, he told her that he had no transport and had to walk 3 km to deliver the order.

He also said that he was out of money and had nothing left to pay his landlord too. Singh told her that he was not looking for money from her but requested her to help him bag a job. He said that he had a degree in Electrical and Communication Engineering, and had worked with Byju’s and Ninjacart before. He had to move back to Jammu during the pandemic.

“I have not eaten for a week, just drinking water and tea to get by. I am not asking for anything, please if you can find me a job, I used to make 25k before, I am 30 years old, my parents are getting old and I can’t keep asking for money from them (sic),” Chandel quoted saying.

She also shared his marksheets and contact number for people to help. His details shared show that he is a 2018 BTech graduate from Mewar University, and completed his schooling from the Jammu and Kashmir state board.

After she shared the details, the comments section was filled with people who stepped up to help. While someone recharged his Yulu account so that he did not have to walk around to deliver food, someone offered a place to stay. Many offered to help him with his applications, while some offered jobs too.

Chandel, later on put an update on the post, and said that he received a job.

However, so far it is unclear what job he has received.

2023 has so far been a year of job losses, an eventual outcome of the pandemic and increased hiring by tech companies. For instance, the SSC MTS 2023 recruitment exam that took place in Uttar Pradesh in May saw over 55 lakh applications for Group D jobs. Numerous candidates who applied for positions such as peon, watchman, gardener had educational backgrounds like BTech, MBA, and Master’s degrees.

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Goa CM, NRI Commissioner writes to MoEF for help in safe return of Goans from Ukraine

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Panaji: Goa chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant on Thursday urged Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar to help in safe return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

Sawant tweeted “we are concerned about the Goans in Ukraine who are considering to return to India in the light of ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. I request Union Minister for External Affairs @DrSJaishankar ji for help in the safe return of Goans. I am keeping track of the situation.”

The chief minister’s tweet comes hours after Goa’s NRI Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar wrote to the Union External Affairs ministry seeking help in return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

“Many Goans are currently residing in Ukraine due to various purposes including higher studies and due to the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine, I have started receiving requests for help and assistance from them to return back to India,” Sawaikar wrote.

The Commissioner further wrote in the letter that advisories have already been issued by the Ministery of External Affairs to Indians currently in Ukraine and our Indian Mission in Kyiy is currently handling the matter.

“Striking note of urgency, the Government of India has recently asked the family members of Embassy officials in Ukraine as well as students and citizens whose stay is not vital , to leave the Eastern European nation amid it’s raising tensions with Russia,” the letter reads.

Sawaikar wrote that the Goans in Ukraine are in touch with this office as they are anxious to temporarily return till the situation normalizes.

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Election Commission announces polling dates and counting days for Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 states

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On Saturday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 States, namely, Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

While briefing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra informed that the elections in the poll-bound States will commence from February 10, 2022, to March 7, 2022. Elections in the State of Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in 7 phases, followed by Manipur with 2 phases. Elections in Goa, Uttarkhand and Punjab will be conducted in a single phase.

According to the Election Commission of India, the votes will be counted on March 10, 2022. ECI informed that all physical campaigning will be ceased until January 15, 2022, in light of the rising cases of Coronavirus.

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