50,000 deaths
50,000th fatality: 156 days after reporting its first fatality linked to Covid-19 on March 12. In comparison, the US took 23 days to breach this mark, Brazil 95 days and Mexico 141 days, according to data by worldometers.info.
India, in the early stages of the outbreak, enforced a 68-day nationwide lockdown starting March 25, when the country had around 602 confirmed cases and 12 deaths. Most curbs have slowly been relaxed in the months since, with the government announcing a phased “unlock” plan from June. “We do not know yet what the reasons are for fewer deaths in India. However, there are some educated guesses. One, India has a relatively young population... Two, Indians get common cold from other coronaviruses that might be providing cross immunity against Sars-cov-2,” said Dr Sanjay K Rai, professor of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.
A study published in Nature on July 15 hinted that previous exposure to other coronaviruses — such as the one causing common cold — may boost a patient’s immunity to Sars-cov-2 that causes Covid-19. “Third, now there is evidence emerging that BCG [Bacille Calmette-guerin] vaccination given to prevent tuberculosis is protective against Covid-19. We [India] have universal BCG vaccination...” he added.
Although India’s death rate has been lower than other nations, public health experts have cautioned that the toll has been on a steady rise with the increase in daily new infections across states. In the seven days to August 14, India added an average of 934 deaths daily — about 34% hike from the average 615 fatalities added in the week ending July 19.
Scientists believe that until a vaccine is developed, retaining a low death rate while focusing on boosting health care infrastructure and widespread testing remain crucial to controlling the disease’s impact in the country.
“This infection is unlikely to just disappear... Covid-19 is highly infectious and the spread is truly global... And if re-infection starts happening then we will need to immunise everyone,” said Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a public health specialist.