More Covid deaths recorded in past 3 weeks than previous 39 weeks

There have been seven deaths in last 24 hours

Deaths among Covid-19 patients have surged in the last three weeks. A total of 40 Covid patients died since mid-May, which is more than the total number of deaths over the preceding 39 weeks, according to an analysis of data from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and updates from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. There were seven deaths reported on Wednesday. The WHO data is updated with a lag, the last update was on May 12.

 

There was one death in January, none in February and a couple reported in March. There was one more by May 12. This meant a cumulative four deaths as of the middle of the fifth month of the year or less than a death a month on average. The latest ministry data shows 44 Covid patients died in 2025. This works out to 40 deaths in less than a month. This is more deaths than recorded cumulatively in the 39 weeks (39 deaths) between the beginning of August 2024 and the middle of May 2025. 

 

The top five states account for over 80 per cent of the recorded deaths. The machinery to capture accurate death and illness statistics may not be uniform across states, and numbers may well reflect these differences. Kerala, for example, recorded 1,373 active Covid cases as of June 4. It has seen nine deaths since the beginning of 2025. Maharashtra with 510 active cases has 14 deaths. Delhi, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have recorded 13 deaths between them, though the number of active cases is 997 in total across the three.

 

The number of active cases has risen from a reported 257 around the third week of May to 4,302 as of Wednesday.

 

Granular data on the rising Covid cases can help deal with the disease better, noted public health expert Dileep Mavlankar. Details on severity of cases (mild to severe), mortality statistics, the number of patients who needed intervention in the form of oxygen or ventilator support can all help understand the ongoing wave better, he said. Additional numbers on the testing rate (tests relative to population) and positivity rate (share of tests which are positive) are also useful in judging the trajectory of the most recent wave. Appointing more epidemiologists at the district, state and national level was important to deal with such diseases, suggested Mavlankar. “We have to keep a vigil on what is happening,” he said.

 

Government authorities have said earlier that there is no cause for worry.