New Delhi: The death toll in India from coronavirus reached 50,000 on Monday, with more than 900 new deaths reported in 24 hours, according to data from the ministry of fitness.
The country surpassed Britain last week with the fourth-highest death toll in the world, the United States, Brazil and Mexico, and recorded 2.6 million infections.
India’s death toll from the pandemic is now 50,921, an increase of 941 since the previous day, according to the Ministry of Health’s website.
The most populous country in the world at the time, home to some of the world’s largest cities and slums, is already the third most inflamed country after the United States and Brazil.
However, many experts say that the actual numbers would possibly be much higher due to low levels of testing and the fact that deaths are not well recorded in the chronically insufficient fitness system.
Despite the accumulation of the death toll, the Ministry of Health tweeted on Sunday that India’s virus mortality rate is “one of the lowest in the world,” less than 2%.
“Successful implementation of testing in an aggressive manner, comprehensive monitoring and effective remedy through a large number of measures have contributed to the existing higher recovery point,” the ministry said in a statement.
Experts say India wants to intensify additional testing for the virus as it spreads to rural and regional areas where fitness systems are fragile or unavailable.
On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said trials and tests were being conducted on 3 potential vaccine applicants in India and that his government was preparing to produce a large number of doses, if any, deemed viable.
“Once we have gained a green signal from our scientists, we will launch a production of the vaccine. We’ve made all the preparations,” Modi said in a speech on Independence Day on Saturday.
“We have developed a plan to accelerate vaccine production and make it available to all users as soon as possible.”
Modi imposed one of the strictest blockades in the world in March.
It struck asia’s third-largest economy and upset the country’s poor, with tens of millions of migrant workers being unemployed almost overnight.
Many other people have returned penniless to their home towns from cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, many of them on foot. Some died on the way.
Since then, the blockade has eased, but many sectors complain about labour shortages.
Meanwhile, state and local governments across the country have re-imposed blocking measures as the virus has spread to small and rural areas, where approximately 70% of Indians live.
In many rural areas, however, anecdotal evidence suggests that measures to prevent spread, such as masking and estrangement, are largely ignored.
In addition, the lack of public awareness has contributed to the ostracism of others with the virus, which makes other people more reluctant to get tested.
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