Centre submits guidelines for issuing Covid-19 death certificates to Supreme Court

The Centre responded nearly 10 days after the Supreme Court slammed the government over delay in issuing the guidelines for Covid-related death certificates.

According to the guidelines, only those Covid-19 cases will be considered which have been diagnosed through RT PCR tes,t molecular test, rapid antigen test or clinically determined through investigations at a hospital or inpatient facility by a treating physician while being admitted to a hospital or inpatient facility.

However, if a Covid-19 patient dies by homicide, suicide, poisoning and accident, among others, the cause of death will not be considered as coronavirus infection even though the infection is an accompanying condition.

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," the guidelines read.

"To make the scope broader and more inclusive, 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," it says.

"However, a COVID-19 patient, while admitted at a hospital or in-patient facility, and who continued as the same admission beyond 30 days, and died subsequently, shall be treated as a Covid-19 death," it added.

In cases where the MCCD (Medical Certification of Cause of Death) is not available, or the family of the dead person is not satisfied with the cause of death given in the MCCD and which are not covered by the above scenarios, states and union territories shall notify a committee at the district level, according to the guidelines.

The guidelines also give the procedure that should be followed by such a committee. The family members have to submit a petition to the district collector for the issuance of the document.

The committee should examine the grievances of the family members and also propose necessary remedial measures, issue "amended official document for Covid-19 death" after verifying facts.

The application for issuing the document and the redressal of grievances should be completed within 30 days of submission of the application.