India on the brink of reaching grim milestone of 5,000 Covid-19 deaths

India is on the brink of a grim milestone of 5,000 Covid deaths within 80 days of the first fatality on March 11. More than half of those who died were elderly persons, with most having underlying health conditions and suffering from lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

It began as a rich man’s disease that came to India on the plane and then ended up uprooting the poor as well. As migrant labourers head home, some of them possibly taking the virus with them, Covid-19 is fast breaching the rich-poor divide, infecting the people in the slums of Dharavi to Mumbai skyscrapers equally.

While Maharashtra and Gujarat together account for more than half of India’s Covid deaths, the city that has taken the maximum hit is Mumbai. In terms of gender, men seem to have been more vulnerable than women.

The India toll also constitutes a large number of frontline workers — from doctors and nurses to security guards and sanitation staff. It’s a battle which has only just begun.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare