Experts Believe There Is A Terrible Thing Behind India's COVID-19 Death Toll That Reaches 500K

JAKARTA - The total death toll from COVID-19 in India crossed the 500,000 mark on Friday, February 4. Many health experts say the figure was actually reached last year but was clouded by inaccurate surveys.

Deaths are not recorded in the interior, an area where millions of people are still vulnerable to COVID-19.

India, the country with the world's fourth-highest COVID-19 death toll, in July last year recorded 400,000 deaths in a wave of outbreaks of the deadly Delta variant, according to government data.

Some experts believe the real figure is much higher.

"Our study published in the journal Science estimates 3 million deaths from COVID in India by mid-2021, using three different databases", Chinmay Tumbe, an assistant professor at the Ahmedabad Indian Institute of Management, who co-authored the study, told Reuters, reported by Antara.

Last month, the Indian government dismissed the results of the study as unsubstantiated. They say India's birth and death reporting system is very strong.

Indian states recorded COVID-19 deaths after collecting data from their districts.

In recent months, several states have updated death data, some of which have come under pressure from local high courts.

In many cases, the authorities said there were data lapses due to input delays and other administrative errors.

India is currently in the midst of the third wave of COVID-19 dominated by the Omicron variant, which leading experts say has been transmitted locally although federal officials say most cases are mild.

The government in January relaxed testing rules. At that time, states were asked to withdraw mandatory testing for people who have close contact with a confirmed case of COVID, unless they are old or have other health problems.

But despite the reduced number of tests, the government issued a revised circular stating that they would overcome the spread of the virus.

Because many infected people choose not to get tested, the total number of infections may not reflect the true increase in cases, said Gautam Menon, professor of physics and biology at Ashoka University.

According to official data, the total cases of COVID-19 infection in India have reached 41.95 million, the second-highest in the world after the United States.

India's cumulative death toll of 500,055 as of Friday includes 1,072 deaths reported in the past 24 hours, the federal health ministry said.

Of these daily figures, 335 deaths were reported from Kerala State which for weeks updated the data with the death toll from last year.

Kerala, which makes up less than three percent of India's population of 1.35 billion, accounts for nearly 11 percent of the nation's total deaths.

In Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, authorities have received more than 100,000 claims for compensation for deaths from COVID-19, of which 87,000 have been approved, a senior government official said.

The number of claims is almost ten times the official death toll of 10,545 people in the state, according to government data.

"There have been no reports of fewer COVID-19 deaths. The compensation payment policy is very liberal as directed by the Supreme Court, which is why the number of applicants is greater than the COVID-19 death toll", the official said.