US body warns of 1.02mn Covid fatalities in India by August 1

A leading Us-based global health research body has projected 1.02 million cumulative deaths in India from Covid-19 by August 1, with 630,000 additional fatalities from April 26, unless “drastic measures” were taken. The previous projection by this institute for the same end date was 960,000.

The deadly disease crossed another grim milestone last week, becoming the No 1 killer in the country, going up by a “staggering” 78%. A top official of the Biden administration, National

WASHINGTON:

Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News on Sunday that the epidemic is “raging out of control” in India. Even as the US has rushed aid worth $100 million, it has announced restrictions on travel from India starting Tuesday. It bars everyone but US citizens, Green Card holders, students joining colleges and universities and, certain academics and professionals.

“Without drastic measures to bolster the health system to deal with this onslaught, decreased social mixing, and increased effective face mask use, the situation currently looks quite grim for India,” said an updated country-specific policy briefing from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), a widely regarded an independent research wing of the University of Washington based in Seattle.

“IHME’S reference scenario forecasts 1,019,000 COVID-19 deaths in India by August 1, 2021,” it added. The forecast is based on data from April 25 to April 30. In the worst case, cumulative deaths could go as high as 1.22 million.

The fatalities can be reduced. “If universal mask coverage (95%) were attained in the next week, our model projects 73,000 fewer cumulative deaths compared to the reference scenario by August 1,” IHME said.