As India’s coronavirus deaths overtake China’s, stretched doctors see no end in sight

Despite the largest lockdown in the world, India’s Covid-19 death toll has quadrupled in under a month, with infections also soaring

A doctor at a New Delhi hospital said each day is a struggle, and they are short-staffed as the number of incoming patients soars

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A medical worker sits in an area that was designated for mothers and child care but has now been changed to command centre for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, at Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital in New Delhi, as India’s coronavirus cases and deaths continue to rise. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:40am, 29 May 2020Updated: 11:36am, 2 Jun 2020

India is the latest country whose coronavirus death toll has topped the number of lives lost in China, where cases of Covid-19 were first reported, as hotspots shift to developing countries ill-equipped to contain its spread.

The South Asian nation’s death toll hit 4,695 on Thursday, climbing past the 4,638 fatalities from Covid-19 in China. The nation of 1.3 billion people now has the highest number of fatalities in Asia, despite the largest lockdown in the world.

The country’s death toll quadrupled in less than a month, accelerating by more than 1,000 over the past week, while infections have been soaring at a similar pace. Government experts have begun to acknowledge the outbreak will not peak until June or July.

The total number of cases in India is already about twice the level in China, and also surpasses those in Iran. Infections rose to 165,069 on Thursday, the ninth highest globally, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Medical workers wearing personal protective equipment take care of a Covid-19 patient in a New Delhi hospital. Photo: Reuters

“The hope was the lockdown will be able to prevent transmission, but clearly that did not happen,” said Vivekanand Jha, executive director of the George Institute of Global Health, India.