Eight additional deaths to be added to the Covid-19 dashboard

Health authorities will be updating the Covid-19 dashboard shortly to include an additional eight deaths which occurred in the community.

The Ministry of Health issued a statement over the weekend indicating that this latest development came after authorities investigated the deaths of several people who passed away outside of the hospital.

The ministry explained that once a hospitalised patient who tests positive for Covid-19 succumbs to complications related to the virus, the information is shared with the Ministry headquarters for inclusion in their reporting.

Deaths relating to discharged patients, and individuals discovered to have been ill, but who did not seek medical attention, are extensively investigated and reported on.

The health ministry also noted that in the first instance, a postmortem examination is conducted to determine the cause of death and a death certificate is issued, thereafter. If it determined that the death is Covid-19 related, it is added to the dashboard.

The ministry also added that once all the available information has been thoroughly processed by the respective health professionals and recommendations are made for an amendment to the dashboard, immediate steps are taken to ensure that the accuracy of the information shared is uncompromised.

The Health Ministry said that it continues to work with all of its healthcare stakeholders to critically examine available data and provide timely and accurate reports on Covid-19-related deaths, which upon validation, are included in the dashboard reports.