Updated: October 3, 2020 7:08:32 am
Maharashtra accounts for more than a third of India’s deaths, having recorded nearly 38,000 deaths so far. It also has a very high CFR of 2.67 percent. (Figurative)
Coronavirus-related deaths in India crossed the 1 lakh mark on Friday, three days after the global figure hit 1 million. This means that India now accounts for almost 10 percent of Covid-19 deaths in the world.
Only the United States and Brazil have had more deaths. More than 2.12 lakh people have died in the US and about 1.45 lakh in Brazil.
Lately, India has contributed between 15 and 25 percent of the daily deaths in the world. Between 4,000 and 6,000 people die every day; and India has been reporting more than 1,000 deaths a day for more than a month. This is not surprising given that India has been discovering many more cases than any other country.
From Explained | India coronavirus figures: India accounts for a tenth of global deaths
India’s case fatality rate (CFR), or the number of deaths out of total confirmed infections, has been declining for more than three months. The CFR fell from 1.76% to 1.56% during September.
Maharashtra accounts for more than a third of India’s deaths, having recorded nearly 38,000 deaths so far. It also has a very high CFR of 2.67 percent.
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have each recorded more than 9,000 deaths, but their CFRs are in line with the national average, around 1.5 percent.
Delhi, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh have each had more than 5,000 deaths.
The country’s highest CFR is in Punjab: 3 percent. The state has a relatively low number of cases of 1.15 lakh, but about 3,500 deaths. Nearly 2,000 deaths were reported in September, when cases increased by 60,000.
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Kerala, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and even Andhra Pradesh appear to be doing relatively well in preventing deaths. These states have one of the lowest CFRs among states with 1 lakh of cases or more.
Deaths per million people are even lower in India, almost half the world average. So far, only about 72 deaths per million inhabitants have occurred in the country; globally, this number is 131. This has led to questioning the authenticity of the death numbers from India. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump, in an effort to defend his own administration’s record in minimizing the loss of life, suggested that India was not reporting the deaths.
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Many scientists and health experts actually believe that the deaths in India might be somewhat underestimated, but no one is sure to what extent. The daily death report was stable between 1,000 and 1,200 in September. For most of the month, 80,000 to 90,000 new cases were reported every day. Any increase in cases is generally reflected in the number of deaths after an interval of about two weeks.
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