In just over 200 days from the day the first coronavirus disease-related death was reported in India, the national death toll surpassed the 100,000 mark on Friday. In this period of time, 717 of the 734 districts of the country have reported at least one death, while the 20 most affected districts represent more than 40% of all deaths reported in the country.
As India became the third country in the world to cross this grim milestone, only the United States and Brazil have reported more deaths – a look at three factors that show how the virus has devastated the country’s districts.
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Much of India’s fatalities in the south and west
The southern part of the country is the region that has been most devastated by the virus. A large proportion of the country’s deaths (37%) come from a single state: Maharashtra.
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The northern plains, particularly Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, have seen relatively lower deaths, despite the recent spike in cases in the two states, bringing the total deaths in these states to 910 and 5,917, respectively. A recent increase in Punjab has placed it among the states with the worst fatality rate (CFR) of 3% compared to the national average of 1.56%.
13 of the 20 worst affected districts in Maharashtra
Just 20 of India’s 734 districts are responsible for nearly 45% of all reported deaths in the country as of Friday night. Of these 20 districts, 13 are from Maharashtra, the state most affected by the disease in the country. Almost one in 10 deaths due to Covid-19 in the country has occurred in a single city: Mumbai. Other major cities on the list of worst affected districts are Chennai (3,238 deaths), Bengaluru (3,024 deaths) and Kolkata (1,737). Delhi has reported 5,438 deaths as of Friday, however the city is divided into 11 income districts so it is not on this list. Other notable cities not on this list are Hyderabad and Guwahati, as their respective state governments do not publish the division of cases and deaths by district.
Rural districts have a lower proportion of deaths
The Covid-19 pandemic started as an urban phenomenon, but is now spreading at a faster rate in rural areas. However, while 584 of the Indian districts classified as ‘mostly rural’ or ‘fully rural’ have reported 49% of all cases, they are only responsible for 38% of all deaths, which means that there have been performed better than its urban counterparts in saving lives. Meanwhile, ‘entirely urban’ and ‘mostly urban’ districts have reported 36% of cases, but so far have 47% of all deaths in the country.
Districts are classified into five categories according to the proportion of the rural population: entirely urban (less than 20% of the rural population), mostly urban (20% -40% rural), mixed (40% -60% rural), mostly rural (60% to 80% rural) and totally rural (more than 80% of the rural population).
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