COVID-19 fatalities have surpassed 100,000 in India, government officials said Saturday, making its the third-highest death toll globally behind Brazil and the U.S.
The health ministry reported 1,069 new COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, raising the total to 100,842, The New York Times reported.
Until Saturday, the only countries with more than 100,000 reported fatalities were the U.S. and Brazil.
India’s official caseload stands at 6.4 million, the second-highest globally. It is surpassed by the U.S., which has over 7.3 million total cases.
Anant Bhan, a health researcher at Yenepoya University in southern India, said the actual number of fatalities is unknown and is likely higher.
“But how much higher it is, that is difficult to know,” said Bhan, as experts think many COVID-19 fatalities in India have gone unreported.
While numbers have somewhat diminished since mid-September, last month accounted for nearly 40 percent of India’s virus cases and represents almost a third of its fatalities.
This week, India reported nearly twice as many new cases as the U.S. did.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed one of the harshest lockdowns in March. The lockdown has been described by experts as poorly planned and devastating to the economy, while also failing to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Despite rising numbers in India, the government is lifting pandemic safety restrictions, such as allowing cinemas and some schools to reopen.
Bhan said the prospect of children going to school and bringing the virus back to their families and homes would increase the potential for exposure and drive up infection rates.
Thekkekara Jacob John, a former head of clinical virology at Christian Medical College in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, said many lives could have been saved if the lockdown was handled differently.
India had virtually zero virus cases during the March lockdown, as the bulk of infections in the country did not rise in the country until after May, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“Now, today, the economic revival has priority over handling the virus,” said John.