CHP Istanbul chair questions accuracy of death certificates amid coronavirus pandemic

Duvar English

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu has questioned the accuracy of death certificates amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, while claiming that the death certificate cited the reason for death of a doctor who died of coronavirus as "infectious disease."

"The death certificate of Cemil Taşçıoğlu prepared on April 1 cites 'infectious disease' as the reason for death. This is only one example," Kaftancıoğlu said in a tweet on April 30.

"The number of deaths announced by the Health Ministry on April 1 is 63 across Turkey. The number of deaths over 'infectious diseases' on the same day is 80 only in Istanbul," she added.

The debate over the Health Ministry's reporting of coronavirus deaths has been ongoing since the country reported its first case on March 11.

According to critics and the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), the ministry doesn't use the appropriate World Health Organization (WHO) codes when reporting coronavirus deaths.

The association has been claiming that the number of coronavirus deaths in the country is higher than the official figures announced daily by Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.

According to the association, some deaths are recorded as being caused by "infectious diseases," "viral pneumonia" or as "natural death," ignoring those who died over coronavirus.

When asked about the criticism on the issue, Koca said that the death certificates are prepared by doctors, while asking, "Don't you trust the doctors?"

Kaftancıoğlu, in return, said that they fully trust the doctors, but the problem stems from the lack of COVID-19 code when reporting deaths.

"It's known that 100 percent of those who died over infectious diseases in this period actually died of coronavirus," she said.