India's Uncounted Deaths Are a Problem for the Living theatlantic.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theatlantic.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
By Carla K. Johnson, AP Medical Writer
Published May 3, 2021
Supporters of Trinamool Congress party chief Mamata Banerjee holding an earlier photograph of her celebrate early lead for the party in the West Bengal state elections in Kolkata, India, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Ashim Paul)
Even after more than a year of devastating coronavirus surges across the world, the intensity and scale of India’s current crisis stands out, with patients desperate for short supplies of oxygen, pleas for help from overwhelmed hospitals, and images of body bags and funeral pyres.
As daily case counts soar far beyond what other countries have reported, experts caution the official COVID-19 numbers from the world’s second most populous country are likely a massive undercount. But why is India’s data considered inaccurate? Is the data any less accurate than what other nations report? And which numbers give a good indication of the crisis?
Even after more than a year of devastating coronavirus surges across the world, the intensity and scale of India's current crisis stands out, with patients desperate for short supplies of oxygen, pleas for help from overwhelmed hospitals, and images of body bags and funeral pyres.