23.6.21

India’s Covid tally tops 3cr


India has become the second country in the world after the US to record more than 3 crore Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. The country’s caseload went past the sombre milestone on Tuesday, just 50 days after crossing the 2-crore mark, making it the fastest addition of 1 crore cases by any country.

The fastest rise of 1 crore cases in the US was 54 days, when the country’s Covid count rose from1 crore (November 5) to 2 crore (December 29), as per worldometers.info.

India’s caseload had touched 2 crore on May 3, when the second wave in the country was about to peak. The last 50 lakh cases were recorded in 36 days (from May 17 to June 22), indicating a distinct slowdown in the second wave. The previous 50 lakh recorded infections had come in 15 days, and the 50 lakh before that in just 14 days.

In just over three and a half months, the second wave accounts for two-third (63%) of all Covid cases recorded in India (taking March 1 as the start of this wave), with close to 1.9 crore cases so far. With 2,33,402 deaths out of a total toll of 3,90,600, 60% of all officially recognised Covid fatalities in the country have taken place during the second wave.

India’s total caseload stands at 30,027,364. The US has so far recorded 3.44 crore cases, the highest count in the world. Brazil is the only other country where cases have exceeded 1 crore.

On Tuesday, India reported 50,497 fresh cases and 1,047 deaths (not counting 294 “backlog” deaths reported by Maharashtra). On Monday, the case count had dropped below 50,000 (42,667) and the toll had dipped under 1,000 (908).

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