India records world’s highest daily COVID-19 deaths after state revises numbers

BENGALURU, India 

India reported on Thursday June 10, the highest single-day death toll from Covid-19 in the world, at 6,148, after a big eastern state revised its figures to account for people who succumbed to the disease at home or in private hospitals.

The health department of Bihar, one of India's poorest states, revised its total Covid-19 related death toll on Wednesday to more than 9,400 from about 5,400.

A Division Bench of the Patna High Court had in May slammed the Bihar government and expressed concern over inconsistencies in the toll in Buxar district, presented by two top government officials in two separate affidavits. 

The court had asked the government to verify all facts before placing them on record.

“All facts must be verified from all sources and then only be placed before us, else it will amount to filing of false or incomplete affidavit”, Chief Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice S. Kumar told the government.

The Bihar Chief Secretary, who is said to have got the figures from the State Health Department, had submitted in court that a total of six deaths occurred due to COVID-19 in Buxar district since March 1, while the Divisional Commissioner’s affidavit had mentioned 789 cremations at just one cremation ground of the district between May 5 and May 14.

On June 8, the State government said that the toll due to COVID-19 pandemic in the State had gone up to 9,375 from 5,424 it had reported on June 7. In the verification exercise that lasted 20 days, the State government added 3,951 more deaths.

Most of the deaths, according to State health officials, occurred in the second wave of the pandemic since April 2021.

Among the districts, Patna registered the highest toll of 2,303 deaths, followed by Muzaffarpur with 609, Nalanda (463), Begusarai (454), East Champaran (425), Darbhanga (342) and Madhubani (317).

The spurt in the number of deaths reflects those reported at private hospitals, in transit to health facilities, under home isolation and those dying of post-COVID complications after they tested negative and were discharged from hospitals, Additional Secretary (Health) Pratyaya Amrit told reporters on Wednesday.

India's total Covid-19 case load now stands at 29.2 million after rising by 94,052 in the past 24 hours, while total fatalities are at 359,676, according to data from the Health Ministry.