India's coronavirus fatality rate and deaths per lakh population are almost as law as South Korea's. At present, India's fatality rate is 3.3 per cent of total confirmed coronavirus cases and deaths stood at 0.09 people per one lakh population and this can be compared to that of South Korea, a country that has successfully flattened the curve. At one stage, South Korea was the worst-hit country after China but it has done well to keep its total coronavirus cases below 11,000-mark and deaths at just 250.
South Korea has one of the lowest fatality rates at 2.3 per cent while deaths per lakh population have been at 0.48, which is higher than India's 0.09 and China's 3.3 per cent. In fact, according to trends captured by the researchers at Johns Hopkins University, India's deaths per lakh population are the lowest among all the major countries. So far, India has reported 37,257 cases of coronavirus and 1,223 deaths.
It's been over a month now since India announced lockdown to contain the deadly coronavirus which has killed more than two lakh people and infected over three million across the world. The virus which originated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in December last year has now reached most of the countries in the world. The epicentre of the virus shifted from China to Europe and then the world's most powerful country, the US, where more than 55,000 people have died due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Coronavirus in India vs the other developed countries
While the powerful and developed countries in Europe and the US itself are reeling under the novel coronavirus, India has done fairly well to keep the virus from entering through the ranks of its society. Although the country has over 37,000 coronavirus positive cases, it has kept the death toll in check. So far, India has seen 1,223 coronavirus fatalities, which is relatively low as compared to other major countries.
It can be understood from the very fact that Switzerland, a rich and developed country of Europe has reported less number of positive cases than India but nearly 30 per cent more deaths. The Netherlands has nearly 40,000 cases of coronavirus and more than 4,900 deaths. This shows how well India has fared while batteling the coronavirus so far, given the country's healthcare system.
When the cases started swelling in China and world came to know about the seriousness of the virus outbreak, it was said that being a neighbour to the country of origin, India would be among the worst hit. However, India managed to sway the odds in its favour and kept the curve flatter compared to rich and developed nations like the US, the UK, Italy, Franc and Germany.
Italy reported its first case after India
Countries such as India, the US, the UK, France, Italy, and Germany reported their first cases around the same period of time, and yet the trajectory has differed for New Delhi. As of May 3, India's coronavirus deaths stood at 1,223 compared to 67,448 in the US, 28,710 in Italy, 24,760 in France, and 28,131 in the UK. Of the total 2.4 lakh deaths reported globally, India's share is just 0.5 per cent.
It is to be noted that Italy's first coronavirus case was reported a day after India. Yet, Italy's daily growth rate of coronavirus cases is nearly 1300 times that of India and its death rate remains nine times higher than that of New Delhi.
If we compare the cumulative number of coronavirus cases in India, the US, UK, China, Germany, France and Italy, India's growth in terms of new infections has remained consistently lower. For nearly one month since its first case, India didn't see any rise in the cases while other countries started witnessing an upward trend in the second week itself. Now India is in 17th week and remains in a much better position if we compare to the situation with the developed countries like the US, the UK, Italy and France.
