The health ministry said despite a population of 1.3 billion, India managed the virus "relatively well".
India still has among the lowest incidences of coronavirus if the rate of infection per million is calculated, the government said today, pointing to data from the World Health Organisation. The country -- which is third on the list of nations worst hit by the pandemic -- has a total of 7.67 cases. The last 24 hours saw the biggest single-day surge, with 24,879 new infections being reported, data from the Health Ministry showed.
"We are the 2nd-most populated in the world. Whenever we talk of the number of active cases, total cases and death count, we should keep the population in mind," a health ministry official told the media this evening.
Despite a population of 1.3 billion, India has been able to manage the virus "relatively well", he said.
"If you look at cases per million population, we are the lowest. Right now, the country has 538 cases per million, according to the World Health Organisation. Cases per million population in other countries are at least 15-16 times of that," he added.
When it comes to fatalities, the other countries have reported 40 times as many cases as India, he said.
