COVID-19 Disaster in In, Death Toll Soon to Double "Will Become the World's Highest"

Photo by AFP News Agency

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The spread of COVID-19 in India is expected to worsen significantly within weeks, with the current death toll of around 230,000 projected to double.

On the 5th (local time), Bloomberg reported that researchers from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru predicted that if the current daily case trend continues, the death toll will reach approximately 404,000 by June 11.

A research team from the University of Washington also forecasted that India's cumulative death toll could rise to about 1,018,879 by the end of July.

The report stated that even if the worst estimates are avoided, India's COVID-19 death toll is likely to surpass the current world record held by the United States (about 578,000).

According to India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of the morning of that day, the daily new COVID-19 cases in India (the sum of each state's counts over approximately 24 hours from the previous day) were recorded at 412,262.

India's daily new cases had slightly slowed after surpassing 400,000 for the first time worldwide on the 1st, but on this day, the previous record was broken again.

India's daily new cases, which had dropped below 10,000 on February 1, surged repeatedly starting in March. On the 22nd of last month, India exceeded the previous world record for daily new cases held by the United States at 307,516 (excluding India, based on Worldometer statistics), and the surge has shown little sign of abating since.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases rose to 21,077,410, ranking second in the world after the United States (33,321,244).

The daily new death toll also reached 3,980, surpassing the previous highest record. India's cumulative death toll stands at 230,168.

Experts, citing hospital and crematorium officials, estimate that the actual number of deaths not captured in official statistics is several times higher.

As of this day, approximately 162.5 million vaccine doses have been administered in India. About 31.5 million people have completed two doses, which is about 2.3% of the 1.38 billion population.

Issisi Ja, Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, warned, "The next 4 to 6 weeks will be a very difficult period for India."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.