Unreported deaths from Bihar inflate highest daily figure for Covid

For some time on Thursday there was shock and disbelief when the Health Ministry put out the number of Covid deaths in the preceding 24 hours at 6,148, by far the highest daily death toll in the country during the pandemic. The figure surprised experts and people alike at a time when the second wave of the pandemic is on the wane and the figures are declining.

But soon enough it was clarified that the figure included 3,951 unreported deaths over the past month in Bihar. Overnight Bihar’s death toll due to Covid had gone up from 5,400 to over nine thousand, while the state actually recorded only 20 Covid deaths during the preceding 24 hours.

The opposition accused the Government of under reporting Covid cases and pointed out that international media outlets like the New York Times had put the number of Covid deaths in India at 1.6 million after talking to experts while the official death toll is put around 3.59 lakh, not even half a million, by the Indian Government.

Under reporting of Covid cases and deaths are both believed to be widespread in India because of limited testing and unavailability of test kits and testing facilities in the rural areas

India has the second-highest tally of COVID-19 infections in the world after the United States, with 29.2 million cases and 359,676 deaths, according to health ministry data.

The health department in Bihar, one of India's poorest states, revised its total COVID-19 related death toll to more than 9,429 from about 5,424 on Wednesday.

The newly reported deaths had occurred last month and state officials were investigating the lapse, a health official said, blaming the oversight on private hospitals.

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