As India Crosses 2 Lakh Deaths, Are Deaths Being Underreported?

India passed a grim landmark of 2 lakh COVID deaths on 28 April. However, crematoriums signal a different reality.

The Big Story podcast on COVID-19 deaths in India and ground reality of crematoriums. Image used for representation only.

(Photo: The Big Story)

On 28 April India officially crossed a grim landmark of 2 lakh deaths from COVID-19. However, we may have reached this number a lot earlier than it was announced.

The alarming spike in daily cases and fatalities has not only highlighted the weak health infrastructure in the country but also led to long waiting periods at crematoriums in Delhi, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and several other states.

According to the World Health Organisation, a death should be recorded as a COVID death if the disease is assumed to have been caused or contributed to it, even if the person had a pre-existing medical condition or comorbidities.

However, there have been reasons to speculate that multiple states have been grossly undercounting COVID deaths.

In today’s episode, we will go through several news reports and The Quint’s on-ground coverage on the ground reality at crematoriums that suggest a discrepancy in COVID death toll figures in India.

To help me in this endeavor, for today’s episode, I spoke with Poonam Agarwal, The Quint’s Investigations Editor, and Ritvick Bhalekar, The Quint’s Senior Correspondent in Mumbai.