How India crossed the grim milestone of 2-lakh Covid-19 deaths

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday officially crossed the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from the Covid-19 virus, according to the ministry of health data.

The total number of people who have died of the Covid-19 virus in the country was 201,187 with 3,293 deaths on Wednesday.

This, even as there have been reports of under-reporting in several states. The data, however, indicates the staggering pace at which deaths have increased since the second wave of the pandemic began in March this year.


Here is a look at the recent surge in Covid-19 fatalities in the country.


India reported more than 3,000 deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The country is the fourth-worst coronavirus-hit country in the world in terms of fatalities, behind the US, Brazil and Mexico.

The first known Covid-19 death in India happened on March 12, 2020, in southern Karnataka state. It took five months to reach the first 50,000 dead. The toll hit 100,000 deaths in the next two months in October 2020 and 150,000 three months later in January this year. Deaths slowed until mid-March, only to sharply rise again.


For the past week, more than 2,000 Indians have died every day.

India crossed the two-lakh deaths mark when the total Covid-19 cases in the country were 17.997 million. In comparison, the US crossed the same mark when the cases were 6.86 million.


Similarly, the confirmed cases in Brazil and Mexico were 7.96 million and 2.21 million when the deaths in these countries crossed the two-lakh mark.

Meanwhile, as per the official data, the case fatality rate has been registering a consistent fall, despite a surge in the number of deaths and cases.


The total 2,01,187 deaths reported so far in the country include 66,179 from Maharashtra, 15,009 from Delhi, 14,807 from Karnataka, 13,728 from Tamil Nadu, 11,678 from Uttar Pradesh, 11,082 from West Bengal, 8,630 from Punjab, 7,800 from Andhra Pradesh and 7,782 from Chhattisgarh.


(With inputs from agencies)