India's Covid-19 Death Toll Passes 500,000

A health worker takes a swab sample of a women to test for COVID-19 at a testing centre in Hyderabad, India, on Feb. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)  

The Guardian/AFP: India's coronavirus death toll passes 500,000  

Experts say underreporting of cases across country means toll likely to be far higher than official count. 

India’s official death toll from Covid-19 has passed 500,000, even as many experts flag underreporting of cases across the country. 

The daily update from the country’s federal health ministry on Friday showed the number of deaths reaching 500,055, up 1,072 in the previous 24 hours. 

Total infections stood at 41.9 million, according to the statistics, second only to the US. 

Case numbers have jumped in recent weeks owing to the highly infectious Omicron variant but rates have slowed in recent days and the health ministry last week said there were indications of a plateau in virus cases in several parts of the country.  

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WNU Editor: The true numbers are probably in the millions .... India's COVID deaths cross 500,000 but some analysts count millions more (Reuters).