How big is India's true Covid toll? Least dire scenario shows 600k deaths

Even in the least dire of scenarios, estimated infections and deaths far exceed official figures. More pessimistic ones show a toll to the tune of millions of deaths

The official Covid-19 figures in India grossly understate the true scale of the pandemic in the country. Last week, India recorded the largest daily death toll for any country during the pandemic — a figure that is most likely still an undercount.

Even getting a clear picture of the total number of infections in India is hard because of poor record-keeping and a lack of widespread testing. Estimating the true number of deaths requires a second layer of extrapolation, depending on the share of those infected who end up dying.

In consultation with more than a dozen experts, The New