Covid-19 in India is now 200-day-old, as death toll crosses 50,000-mark

The Covid-19 death toll crossed the 50,000-mark in India on Sunday, the 200th day of the pandemic striking the nation.

India took 156 days to cross the 50,000-mark, whereas the USA did it in 23 days, Brazil in 95 days and Mexico in 141 days. The first Covid-19 death in India happened more than one and a half months after the first case was reported in Kerala.

Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, is miles ahead in death count as more than 19,500 persons have died there due to novel coronavirus. As per the DH Covid-19 tracker, the toll in the western state (19,749) is more than the combined toll of the next five states – Tamil Nadu (5,766), Delhi (4,196), Karnataka (3,831), Uttar Pradesh (2,393) and West Bengal (2,377).

Mizoram is the only state without any Covid-19 death whereas one death has been reported in Sikkim.

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“India has one of the lowest mortality globally. The case fatality rate stands at 1.93% as of Sunday,” the Union Health Ministry said in a statement. The maximum case fatality rate of 3.33% was reported on June 18.

A closer look shows only three states have a fatality rate higher than the national average – Gujarat (3.56%), Maharashtra (3.38%) and Madhya Pradesh (2.46%).

“While India’s death rate is one of the lowest globally, breaching the 50,000-mark is significant. In absolute numbers, this may seem low, but the human aspect is not to be trivialized,” Oommen John George, a senior public health researcher at the George Institute for Global Health, Delhi.

“We have unfortunately lost a significant number of health care professionals and those on frontlines like the police personnel. Behind each of these numbers, there is a person, so we need to do everything that we can to keep everyone safe particularly those on the front lines.”

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With more than 63,000 fresh cases, India's tally of positive cases now inches towards 26 lakh-mark, out of which around 7 lakh are active cases.

India has been reporting over 60,000 cases daily since August 7, barring August 11 when the country registered 53,601 new cases of the infection.

Public health specialists observed India was quick in translating emerging evidence into clinical guidelines, which may have a role in keeping the death toll low compared to several other countries.

“In most clinical settings dexamethasone is being used where indicated, as soon as the results of Recovery trials were published regarding the role of the medicine in improving survival. It was quickly implemented in India,” John said.