Karnataka best in COVID reporting across India, UP & Bihar worst: Stanford Study

NEW DELHI: A study by researchers at Stanford University, California has shown that there is a huge disparity in the way various states in India present coronavirus-related data. Karnataka was given the best coronavirus reporting status by the study, published in the preprint on MedRxiv last week, while Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP) were put last.

To evaluate the quality of COVID-19 data reporting carried out by states and UTs of the country, the research team developed a semi-quantitative framework for the findings. This framework covers four main aspects of public health data reporting- availability, accessibility, granularity, and privacy. The research team then measured the ‘COVID–19 reporting score’ (CDRS) in 29 states, which ranged from 0 to 1 based on the quality of COVID-19 data reporting done by them in the two-week period from May 19 to June 1.

The researchers wrote that their findings show that there is a strong disparity in the quality of COVID-19 data reporting done by the state governments in India. CDRS varies from 0.61 (good) in Karnataka to 0.0 (poor) in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, with a median value of 0.26. The researchers have noted the absence of coronavirus data on the government websites of Bihar and UP. The states that have scored the lowest in coronavirus reporting include Meghalaya (0.13), Himachal Pradesh (0.13) and Andaman and Nicobar Islands (0.17) and those who have scored the best include Kerala (0.52) and Puducherry, Odisha and Tamil Nadu (0.51). The researchers also found that Punjab and Chandigarh violated the privacy of quarantined individuals by publishing their personal information on the official websites.

The researchers said without a cohesive framework, data from the different states can hardly be aggregated, insights can be obtained from them and an efficient national response to the pandemic can be organized. In addition, it reflects the lack of coordination or sharing of resources among the states in India. The researchers further said that the coordination among the states is especially important as more people will travel across the states over the next few month.

According to the latest data provided by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on Monday, July 27, India’s coronavirus tally has reached to 14,35,453 with 4,85,114 actives cases, 9,17,567 cured/discharged patients and 32,771 succumbed to the deadly coronavirus infection.