Faced with criticism over a discrepancy in COVID deaths, the Kerala government has decided to publish the names of the dead.

Faced with criticism from the BJP and Congress over an alleged mismatch in COVID-19 deaths reported in Kerala, Health Minister Veena George said on Friday that the government has decided to publish the names and other details of those who died from the virus in the state.

The minister stated that she has directed that the name, age, and location of each COVID patient who succumbs to the infection be published on the Health Department’s website beginning Saturday.

Until now, she said, only the district, age, and date of death of each COVID patient were published on the department’s website.

Earlier in the day, the opposition Congress and BJP alleged a mismatch in the COVID-19 deaths reported in Kerala, accusing the state government of projecting a ‘fabricated’ figure to save face in the fight against the pandemic.

The charges were reiterated by the opposition a day after George stated that the state government has nothing to hide in terms of pandemic-related casualties.

She reiterated this at a press conference on Friday.

During a press conference in Kozhikode during the day, the state Assembly’s opposition leader, V D Satheesan, claimed there was a mismatch in the death toll.

According to him, the Health Minister was attempting to protect the government from being exposed by the deceptive numbers of COVID deaths.

“I’m not sure why the government would want to keep the facts hidden. There is no reason for the government to believe that revealing actual figures would tarnish its image “According to Satheesan.

He accused the state government of conspiring to project a fabricated figure while concealing factual numbers, claiming that tens of thousands had died as a result of the pandemic around the world.

The Congress leader also stated that the opposition would not hold the government accountable for COVID deaths, which are part of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran claimed that only one-third of the actual COVID-19 deaths were reflected in government records, and even the Health Minister admitted that the toll had been concealed by state authorities.

He claimed that the Pinarayi Vijayan government had excluded COVID-19 deaths from official records in order to stage a “Kerala is Number One” campaign, and that the state had been violating ICMR norms and central policy in this regard since the beginning.

According to the BJP leader, more people are dying from the disease in the state as a result of false-negative reports and delayed medical examinations.

“The weekly average test has been reduced by one-fifth by the state government. This is the reason why the state’s death rate has yet to fall “He stated.

Without realising it, the government has attempted to save face by lowering the death toll, according to the BJP leader.

These allegations were refuted by George in a press conference on Friday, when she stated that the deaths were reported by doctors in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) and Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines (ICMR).

On Thursday, she stated that the state government had nothing to hide in terms of COVID-19-related deaths.

A new transparent and decentralised online system has been put in place to report deaths caused by the virus, George said, a day after the Supreme Court directed the National Disaster Management Authority to issue guidelines in six weeks for ex-gratia compensation to families of those who died as a result of the virus.

Kerala is a state where 100% of births and deaths are reported, she said, adding that it is not as if the state decides which deaths are due to COVID or not.

According to government figures, 13,505 people have died as a result of the virus, though the Congress and BJP have claimed that the true figure may be double that.