Mystery of India's lower death rates seems to defy coronavirus trend
12:37, 24/04/2020, FridayU: Update: 12:41, 24/04/2020, Friday
REUTERS
Health workers wearing protective gear walk on a railway track as they arrive in a slum area for a door-to-door verification of people to find out if they have developed any of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) symptoms, in Kolkata, India, April 24, 2020.
FEWER MURDERS TOO?
Neeraj Kumar, who is in charge of a crematorium on the banks of the holy Ganges river in Uttar Pradesh state, said victims of crime were also not being brought in.
"We used to get at least 10 accident-related bodies every day and many related to murder cases. But after the lockdown we're only receiving natural death cases," Kumar said.
The site used to perform up to 30 cremations a day but in the month since March 22, only 43 people had been cremated, Kumar said after leafing through the crematorium's record book.
But the lower rates might also reflect difficulties in reporting deaths during the lockdown, officials said.
"There could be an increase when the lockdown ends," said Dr Bhavin Joshi, a senior health department official with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.
