COVID-19 Pandemic: India Records 0.2 Deaths Per Lakh Population As Against Global Figure Of 4.2: Union Health Ministry

New Delhi: According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country has recorded 3,303 deaths, as on May 20. Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said on Tuesday via his official social media account that the country has so far recorded about 0.2 COVID-19 deaths per lakh population as against the global figure of 4.1 which has increased to 4.2 on Wednesday. He said that the country has performed well in tackling the pandemic. In a Tweet on Tuesday, he said, “India is not behind any other country in identifying and curing COVID-29 cases.”

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दृढ़ निश्चय व पक्का इरादा हो तो जीत तय है!

????#COVID19 के नियंत्रण में भारत का रिकॉर्ड दुनिया में सबसे बेहतर

????दुनिया में प्रति एक लाख आबादी पर #COVID19 से 4.1 लोगों की मौत,भारत में यह दर सिर्फ़ 0.2

????मामलों की पहचान कर उनके #clinical प्रबंधन में भारत पीछे नहीं @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/U0KzGOZ5I9

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) May 19, 2020

Referring to data from the World Health Organisation’s situation report-120, MoHFW said in a statement that 3,16,169 COVID-19 mortalities have been reported till May 19 worldwide which is about 4.1 deaths per lakh population.

Overall, 4.2 people per lakh population have died due to #COVID19

In India, no. of deaths reported per lakh population is just 0.2

Nine countries have reported more than 10 deaths per lakh population

– @MoHFW_INDIA #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/8uwsHl5Atb

— PIB India (@PIB_India) May 20, 2020

The Union Health Ministry said the highest case mortality per lakh population had been reported from Spain (59 deaths per lakh population), followed by Italy (53 deaths per lakh population) and the United Kingdom (52 deaths per lakh population). While the United State of America (USA) has 27 deaths per lakh population and France has 41.9 deaths per lakh population.

While commenting on India’s performance in tackling the pandemic, Professor K.Srinath Reddy, President, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) said that the death rate across the whole population provides a measure of how both containment to prevent spread and case management to save sick persons are working together as a combined response to COVID-19. He said,

Death rate tells us to what extent the whole population of India has been affected so far. The main objective of the response to the epidemic is to keep the death rates down in the population, not just in the tested and diagnosed cases. India’s deaths per million population are much lower than in the USA or Europe. While this rate will rise over time, it is likely to stay fairly low compared to many countries.

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Dr. S. P. Singh, Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Rookree said that while it is true that the death rate per lakh population is lowest in India, however, the comparison should be effectively made in the context of several other variables such as age composition of the population, starting date of the pandemic, the regional spread of the pandemic, rural population which is almost unaffected in the country, among others. He said,

European countries are having a higher proportion of the aged population and therefore death rate may be higher due to this. In India also there are a few states such as Tamile Nadu and Gujarat where the death rate is higher than the national average and these are relatively developed state. I do not think that health care indicators have any role in this context.

According to MoHFW, when lockdown started, the recovery rate among COVID-19 patients in the country was 7.1 per cent which has now improved to 39.62 per cent. The data provided by the Ministry show that, among 61,149 active COVID19 cases, only around 2.9 per cent is on oxygen support, 3 per cent in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) and 0.45 per cent is on a ventilator. 25.36 lakh COVID-19 tests have been till Wednesday, according to the data provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). There are 555 testing laboratories currently dedicated to COVID-19 testing in the country.

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