India Covid Dispatch: Deaths may be 7-8 times more than stated, says study

Researchers link stubble burning to Delhi's third wave in November, July vaccination goal likely to be missed, and other stories from around the country on the fight against the pandemic

Over 29,500 fresh cases reported

India reported 29,689 fresh coronavirus infections on Tuesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 31.4 million, according to central health ministry data. The daily cases are less than 30,000 for the first time in over four months. The country saw 415 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 421,382. The active caseload is at 398,100, while the total recoveries have surged to 30.6 million. As many as 441 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 6.6 million were given on Monday. Read more

Researchers link stubble burning to Delhi’s 3rd wave in Nov

Researchers have found that Covid may have spread more aggressively during the third wave in Delhi between October and November last year amid stubble burning, a report in ThePrint said. The virus may have piggy-backed on black carbon, a major constituent of soot that pervades Delhi’s air in winter. According to researchers at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune, after a mid-September peak last year, daily cases fell sharply in Delhi to nearly 12 per cent of peak count with a minimum of about 500 per day. With the onset of the stubble burning period in neighbouring states, however, the declining trend suddenly reversed and there was a 10-fold rise in infection counts. Read more

India’s Covid death rate likely to be 7-8 times higher than reported: study

A non-peer-reviewed paper from the University of Toronto has concluded that India’s Covid death rate may be about 7-8 times higher than the officially reported figure of 290/million population, a report in ThePrint said. The official Covid death toll in India currently stands at 420,967. The researchers quantified all-cause excess mortality in India, comparing deaths during the peak of the first and second waves (Jul-Dec 2020 and April-June 2021 respectively) with month-wise deaths in 2015-19. Read more

July vaccination target likely to be missed

India is likely to miss its vaccination target of 135 million doses for July if it continues to vaccinate at the current pace, a report in The Indian Express said. About 99 million doses had been given this month, at an average of about 3.8 million doses per day. At the current pace, India would end up administering about 125 million doses by the end of July. To meet the target, about 6 million daily doses would have to be administered, a number that has been attained few times this month. Read more

Elderly Covid patients prone to low sodium level: AIIMS study

Research based on patients admitted at All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Patna has found that elderly Covid patients, especially those with pre-existing medical conditions and showing signs of disorientation, need to be promptly hospitalised and checked for fall in sodium level, or it can prove fatal, a report in the Hindustan Times said.