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Summary
- India reports 104,488 deaths in last 30 days.
- The 30-day death toll in India is far higher in India than those of US and Brazil at their respective peaks.
- Even as fresh cases come down, COVID-19 deaths continue to grow unabated.
The raging COVID-19 pandemic in India has left 104,488 people in country dead in just a month’s time, as the country is hurtling towards the total death toll of 300,000.
As on date, the pandemic death toll in the country stands at 283,281, compared with 178,793 deaths recorded a month ago. Even as the fresh infections have started to come down in the country, the pandemic-related fatalities in the country continue to shatter records.
On Tuesday, the country reported yet another record toll, registering 4,530 deaths. On a weekly basis, India recorded 29,051 deaths in the past seven days – a sequential growth of 4%. On the contrary, the weekly global deaths have come down by 3% during the same period.
The extent of the menace can be sensed from the fact that the number of deaths that India has seen in the past month due to COVID-19 is higher than the total number of combat deaths witnessed in three of its deadliest long serving insurgencies – Kashmir Insurgency, North East Insurgency and Naxal Insurgency.
What makes matters worse is the fact that the fresh cases and deaths have been grossly under-reported in the country. Experts suggest that the actual number of people dying of COVID-19 in the country during the past month would be multiple times higher than the reported numbers.
Compare India’s numbers to those of the US: In January 2021, when the US was going through the peak of second wave, it reported 10% lesser deaths than India in 30 days. The country reported 93,987 deaths in those 30 days.
In Brazil as well, when death curve peaked in the April, the country reported 21% lesser death in the month than India. During 30 days of April, the country reported 82,266 deaths.
As deaths continue to mount in India, the leaders from the ruling political party – the Bharatiya Janata Party – have started blaming the opposition, Indian National Congress, for trying to “defame India” for highlighting the government’s failure. Many critics, even within the ruling party, have held Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi responsible for the COVID-19 crisis.
