India Surpasses 300,000 Cumulative Deaths... Third Highest Worldwide

Daily Death Toll Ranks First in the World

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] The cumulative death toll in India has surpassed 300,000.

According to the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the 24th, as of the morning of that day, the cumulative COVID-19 death toll (the sum of each state's counts over approximately 24 hours from the previous day) reached 303,720. India ranks third in the world for countries with over 300,000 cumulative COVID-19 deaths since the outbreak, following the United States (604,087) and Brazil (449,185).

India's cumulative confirmed cases on that day stood at 26,752,447.

In particular, due to the recent resurgence of COVID-19 in India, the country has been recording the highest number of new daily deaths worldwide. The number of new deaths on that day was counted at 4,454. Considering that the daily death tolls in the United States and Brazil have recently decreased to below 1,000 and around 2,000 respectively, India's situation is the most severe.

Some point out that the actual numbers may be several times higher than the government’s official counts due to many deaths not being recorded in the statistics.

Meanwhile, with the rising costs of funeral expenses such as cremation fuel, incidents of bodies being submerged or abandoned in the Ganges River have occurred.

Local media reported testimonies from residents that ambulance drivers threw the bodies of COVID-19 victims off bridges into the river. More than 90 bodies presumed to be COVID-19 victims have surfaced in the Ganges River, and hundreds of shallowly buried bodies have been found along the riverbanks. Some local media even reported that "up to 2,000 bodies were discovered along the banks of the Ganges River."

In response, authorities have explained that "not all of the bodies are those of COVID-19 victims."

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