India records world’s highest daily COVID-19 deaths after state revises numbers

A healthcare worker checks the temperature of a child during a door-to-door surveillance to safeguard children amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a village on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, June 9, 2021. REUTERS

BENGALURU — India reported on Thursday the highest single-day death toll from COVID-19 in the world, at 6,148, after a big eastern state revised its figures to account for people who succumbed to the disease at home or in private hospitals.

The health department of Bihar, one of India’s poorest states, revised its total COVID-19 related death toll on Wednesday to more than 9,400 from about 5,400.

The United States had recorded 5,444 COVID-19 deaths on Feb. 12.

India’s total COVID-19 case load now stands at 29.2 million after rising by 94,052 in the past 24 hours, while total fatalities are at 359,676, according to data from the health ministry.