India’s Covid-19 Deaths Likely 10 Times Higher: Report

“India’s official death toll as of the end of June 2021 is 400,000,” report to speak. “The reality is of course catastrophically worse.”

“The obvious tragedy is that too many people, out of millions rather than hundreds of thousands, could have died.”

The excess death toll is calculated by determining the number of people who died more than usual in a particular time period. While the virus is unlikely to account for all of the excess deaths occurring during the pandemic, it is likely to have contributed to a significant number of them.

The article acknowledges that determining the exact death toll can be “elusive”, but that the number “could be an order of magnitude larger than the official figure.”

Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic adviser to the Indian government, and two other experts from the Center for Global Development and Harvard University published the report.

He said the figure may have overlooked deaths that occur in overcrowded hospitals or when health care is disrupted, especially during periods of time. the virus surge wreaked havoc earlier this year.

State and local governments across India have been accused of knowingly low death count of Covid-19, and because the stigma of the virus keeps many people from getting tested, many deaths are not recorded as deaths from the virus.

Following public criticism and demands for accountability, several Indian states have revised their mortality figures, resulting in a substantial increase in the official death toll.

“How can we have a basic understanding of the effects of the virus without knowing how many people have died and where they died?” Subramanian said. “Accurate data is the only way we can prepare an official response to a future pandemic.”

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