India’s coronavirus deaths cross grim 100,000 milestone

 

The death toll from coronavirus in India has surpassed 100,000 seven months since the first batch of virus cases emerged in one of the world's most populous countries.

As reported by the Indian media, India has become the third country in the world to overcome the grim milestone. Only the United States with 212,000 deaths and Brazil with 144,000 deaths has reported more deaths.

In terms of infections, India has recorded 6.47 million cases and is now on track to surpass the United States in the coming weeks as the country with the most infections.

Its population of 1.3 billion, which is roughly four times the size of the United States, has suffered more than twice as many deaths, raising questions about India's official figures.

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"We do not know the reliability of the mortality rates in India," virologist T. Jacob John told AFP.

"India does not have a public health surveillance system that documents disease and death events in real-time," he said. Although India performs around one million tests per day, as a percentage of the population, its testing rate is much lower compared to many other countries in the world.

According to a report published in the Hindustan Times, since the first week of September, daily deaths in India have exceeded those of any country in the world.

"On average, 1,065 people have died every day during the last week in the country, compared to 755 average daily deaths in the United States and 713 in Brazil in the same period," the publication reads.