New Delhi: Over 5 lakh deaths took place in the country due to Covid-19 as of March 24, 2022, the Government informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Minister of State (MoS), Health and Family Welfare Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar presented the statistics in the Upper House.
"As on 24th March 2022, as reported by States/UTs, a total of 5,16,672 deaths due to COVID-19 have been reported in the country," stated Dr Pawar in a written reply. She further stated that according to data available with the World Health Organization, India has one of the lowest deaths per million (374 deaths per million population) which is much lower compared to similarly affected countries like the United States of America (2920 deaths per million population), Brazil (3092 deaths per million population), Russia (2506 deaths per million population) and Mexico (2498 deaths per million population).
As for reports which speculated a higher number of deaths due to Covid-19 in the country than officially reported, the MoS said that such reports have mostly relied on "unvalidated methodologies". "These reports have mostly relied on unvalidated methodologies, or the data sources used to derive ‘estimates’ are not reliable. In most of these studies results have been obtained using mathematical modelling techniques from a limited sample of small sub-population subgroups which is extrapolated to the entire country," stated the MoS.
"India has a robust Civil Registration System (CRS) and Sample Registration System (SRS) which predates the COVID-19 pandemic and covers all States/UTs. The registration of deaths in the country is done under Registration of Births and Deaths Act (RBD Act, 1969) by functionaries appointed by the State Governments," she added.
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