VOA慢速英语--印度是否低估了其新冠的死亡人数？

Is India Undercounting Its COVID-19 Dead?

Narayan Mitra died on July 16 in India's northeastern Assam state. His death came one day after going to the hospital with a high temperature and breathing difficulties. Test results later showed that Mitra had been infected with the coronavirus.

But his name never appeared on any of the official lists of those killed by the coronavirus. Doctors said the virus was an "incidental" influence on his death. They said his death was caused by a neurological disorder¹.

The Associated Press reports that India's national government has asked states not to say an underlying² condition caused a patient's death in cases where COVID-19 has been confirmed by tests.

India has recorded more than 5.1 million COVID-19 infections. That is ahead of all other countries except the United States. It has recorded more than 83,000 COVID-related deaths. That is lower than expected considering its number of infections.

India's Health Ministry³ said this is evidence of its success in fighting the coronavirus. It has also said the low number of deaths is a reason for easing restrictions⁴ and reopening the economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a nationwide lockdown in March.

But some experts say the numbers are misleading and that India is not counting many deaths. "We are undercounting deaths by an unknown factor," said Dr. T. Jacob John, a retired⁵ virus expert.

The Health Ministry has dismissed earlier accusations⁶ that it undercounts deaths. But it refused to comment this week on whether states were reporting all suspected and confirmed deaths from the virus.

Dr. Prabhat Jha is a disease expert at the University of Toronto in Canada. He said countries should overestimate⁷ death numbers -- not underestimate them -- if they want to make progress in fighting the virus.

"It is better to have no estimate than an underestimate," Jha said.

India's Health Ministry recommends that states record all suspected virus deaths. That includes cases were the patient likely died of COVID-19 but was not tested for it. But these are only guidelines and many states are not following them.

Mahrashtra is India's worst affected⁸ state, with more than 1 million cases. There, suspected deaths are not recorded, said the state's health director Dr. Archana Patil.

Other states, like Assam, have created groups of doctors who separate "real virus deaths" from those caused by underlying diseases. In some cities, like New Delhi or Mumbai, these doctor groups sometimes add missed deaths to the count.

Dr. Anup Kumar Barman heads the doctor group in Assam. He said Assam state is not including many deaths where the virus is listed as "incidental" and not the cause of death. Assam state has recorded over 147,000 infections but fewer than 500 deaths. Those numbers are current as of September 16.

In Mitra's case, he had more signs of his neurological disorder, Barman said. He added that Assam state was following the national guidelines. Mitra was not included as a coronavirus victim because his death was not caused by breathing failure, pneumonia⁹ or blood clots¹¹, Barman added.

The guidelines list these problems as possible results of the virus, but other problems are possible as well.

P.V. Ramesh used to lead COVID-19 management for Andhra Pradesh state in southern India. He said coronavirus deaths that happen "at home, in transit¹² or while arriving at hospitals don't get counted."

The low number of reported deaths has resulted in people thinking the virus is not dangerous, said Dr. Anant Bhan, a public health researcher. This has led people to not take protective measures such as wearing face coverings or keeping social distance, Bhan said.

Workers at crematoriums in the country have reported an increase in receiving bodies — whether from the virus or not.

At a crematorium in the Indian city of Lucknow, worker Bhupesh Soni said 30 bodies were being cremated¹³ every day, compared to five or six before the health crisis.

One cremation¹⁴ normally takes about 45 minutes. Soni said there have been days when he has worked for over 20 hours.

"It is an endless flow of bodies," he said.

Words in This Story

neurological –adj. related to the nervous system which includes the spinal¹⁵ cord, nerves and the brain

underlying –adj. something that is the basis or cause of something

pneumonia –n. a serious infection of the lungs

(blood) clot¹⁰ –n. blockage¹⁶ or barrier of dried blood that prevents the flow of blood through its passageways in the body

management –n. overseeing and dealing¹⁷ with the problems of a large task

transit –n. the act of moving from one place to another

crematoriums –n. a place where bodies of the dead are turned to ash

1 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

2 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

6 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

7 overestimate   

v.估计过高，过高评价

参考例句：

• Don't overestimate seriousness of the problem.别把问题看重了。
• We overestimate our influence and our nuisance value.我们过高地估计了自己的影响力和破坏作用。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

10 clot   

n.凝块；v.使凝成块

参考例句：

• Platelets are one of the components required to make blood clot.血小板是血液凝固的必须成分之一。
• The patient's blood refused to clot.病人的血液无法凝结。

11 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

13 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

14 cremation   

n.火葬，火化

参考例句：

• Cremation is more common than burial in some countries. 在一些国家，火葬比土葬普遍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Garbage cremation can greatly reduce the occupancy of land. 垃圾焚烧可以大大减少占用土地。 来自互联网

15 spinal   

adj.针的，尖刺的，尖刺状突起的；adj.脊骨的，脊髓的

参考例句：

• After three days in Japan,the spinal column becomes extraordinarily flexible.在日本三天，就已经使脊椎骨变得富有弹性了。
• Your spinal column is made up of 24 movable vertebrae.你的脊柱由24个活动的脊椎骨构成。

16 blockage   

n.障碍物；封锁

参考例句：

• The logical treatment is to remove this blockage.合理的治疗方法就是清除堵塞物。
• If the blockage worked,they could retreat with dignity.如果封锁发生作用，他们可以体面地撤退。

17 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。