Suspected COVID-19 patients wait to be examined by medics at a government hospital, during the ongoing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus, in New Delhi.
About 95,527 patients suffering from the coronavirus have been cured in the country so far, the Union Health Ministry said at a media briefing on Tuesday. With this, the recovery rate in the country stood at 48.07 percent, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary in the ministry told reporters.
India's fatality rate of 2.82 percent is one of the lowest in the world, compared to a global fatality rate of 6.12 percent, Agarwal said. He further said that 10 percent of India's population accounts for 50 percent of the country's COVID-19 linked deaths. "73 percent of COVID-19 deaths in India are people with co-morbidities," the official said.
"It is a wrong comparison to look at the total number of COVID-19 cases only and mention that India is seventh in terms of the number of cases. Our population should be considered too. 14 countries having a similar population as India have reported 22.5 times more cases and 55.2 times deaths," he added.
On Tuesday, India reported 8,171 cases of the virus and 204 deaths in the last 24 hours as the country's count inched closer to two lakh. The total number of cases in India now stand at 1,98,706, including 97,581 active cases, 95,527 cured/discharged/migrated and 5,598 deaths.
Meanwhile, the health ministry also ruled out any under-reporting of COVID-19 deaths in the country. "No under-reporting of COVID-19 deaths in India; states doing casualty assessment and attributing the cause of death accordingly," an official said.
On a question over the transmission stage, an official of the ICMR said: "Instead of using the word community transmission, we need to understand the extent of COVID-19 spread. We are far from the peak. Our measures to curtail the disease are effective. India has been very good in the reduction in mortality."
