July 22, 2021
NEW DELHI (AP) â Indiaâs excess deaths during the coronavirus pandemic could be a staggering 10 times the official COVID-19 toll, likely making it modern Indiaâs worst human tragedy, according to the most comprehensive research yet on the ravages of the virus in the South Asian country.
Most experts believe Indiaâs official toll of more than 414,000 dead is a vast undercount, but the government has dismissed those concerns as exaggerated and misleading.
The report released on Tuesday estimated excess deaths – the gap between those recorded and those that would have been expected – to be 3.4 million to 4.7 million since the pandemic began through last month. It said an accurate figure may “prove elusive”, but the true death toll “is likely to be an order of magnitude greater than the official count”.