The total number of recorded COVID-19 fatalities in India crossed the 5 lakh mark on Friday.
However, the actual coronavirus toll in the country since the beginning of the pandemic is estimated to be much higher than the deaths recorded so far.
1070 deaths were recorded in India on Friday, similar to the the average levels recorded in the last week.
The country’s death toll went past the 5 lakh mark 217 days after crossing 4 lakh on July 1, 2021. This was the longest time taken for a 1 lakh increase in deaths. 1 to 1 lakh took 204 days while 1 lakh to 2 lakh took 207 days. 2 lakh mark to 2 lakh mark took just 26 days and within 39 days after 3 lakh mark the death toll reached 4 lakh.
Death rate during the third wave so far is 0.16% as compared to 1.36% in the second wave and 1.42% in the first.
India became the third country in the world to officially record more than half million deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic. Only the US, with over 9.1 lakh COVID fatalities, and Brazil (nearly 6.3 lakh) have reported more deaths from the virus so far.
Several international studies suggest India suffered the highest COVID-19 deaths in the world.
