Two-thirds of India's 500,000 Covid deaths are from urban districts: Data

On Thursday, India became the third country in the world to register over 500,000 Covid deaths. Only the US, which has witnessed 920,000 deaths, and Brazil (630,000) are ahead of India. The three countries account for a third of total Covid deaths across the world.

While India ranks third in terms of total Covid deaths, if deaths per million population are calculated, the country stands in 131 position. Moreover, in terms of the case fatality rate (ratio of total casualties over total cases), India stands on a par with the US at 1.19 per cent. On the other hand, Brazil has a high case fatality rate of 2.41 per cent.

A Business Standard analysis shows that the urban districts account for two-thirds of India’s total deaths. Rural areas accounted for 18.2 per cent of total deaths. Semi-urban centres had a 15.1 per cent share in fatalities in the country.

In terms of total infections, 65 per cent of total cases came from urban centres, and rural districts had a 19.2 per cent share in infections.

Deaths in urban centres have been higher than in rural districts during Covid. The crude death rate from Sample Registration Survey for 2010-2019, released last year, indicates a higher proportion of rural deaths than urban deaths. The crude death rate in urban areas was five per cent, compared to six per cent in rural areas. The reason for higher deaths in urban and rural centres may be better reporting standards.

Further analysis of Covid figures indicates that eight metropolises had a larger share of deaths than the entire rural districts in the country. One in five Covid deaths in the country were from eight metropolises, compared to 18.2 per cent from rural districts. The share in total infections was slightly higher for urban centres.

Even though the country has reported over 1,000 deaths, the daily case fatality rate for the Omicron wave has been lower than the previous two waves of infection. Vaccination and the reduced severity of the virus have been a cause for lower mortality.

Until Friday, the country had administered the first dose to 95 per cent of its adult population, and 77 per cent had received the second dose. Nearly two-thirds of children aged 15-18 had received the first dose, and over half of those eligible for a precautionary dose were vaccinated with the booster shot.