Revealed: How many lives COVID claimed in India in 2020

As the COVID impact wades, horrifying numbers (mostly casualties) emerge, giving an idea of the impact of the pandemic.

The Office of the Registrar General of India on Wednesday (May 25) released its report detailing causes of deaths in 2020, revealing that coronavirus killed 1,60,618 people in that year – the fourth largest cause of deaths in the country. Of the 1,60,618 deaths, the coronavirus was identified in 1,38,713 deaths, while it was not verified in 21,905 cases.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 constituted about 9% of the approximately 18 lakh medically certified deaths in the country in 2020.

While the Registrar General of India reported a death figure of 1,60,618 for 2020, the Union Health Ministry’s COVID death count was 1,48,994 for the period.

In Maharashtra (61,212 deaths; 17.7 per cent), Manipur (15.7 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (16,489 deaths; 15 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (13.5 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (12,193 deaths; 12 per cent), Punjab (11.9 per cent) and Jharkhand (7.6 per cent) COVID emerged as the second biggest cause of death. Delhi reported 8,744 deaths while Karnataka recorded 15,476 deaths during the year. Arunachal Pradesh and Lakshadweep did not report any COVID death in 2020, the report states.