India reported 0.3 deaths per lakh population, lower than the world average of 4.4 per lakh: MoHFW

New Delhi [India], May 26 (ANI): Lockdown, timely identification and management of COVID-19 cases in the country has kept the number of deaths restricted to 0.3 per lakh of the total population while the world average stands at 4.4 per lakh population, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
"4.4 deaths per lakh population have been reported for the world, while India has reported about 0.3 deaths per lakh population, which is amongst the lowest in the world. This when some countries have even recorded as high as 81.2 deaths per lakh population (Belgium)," said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, at a press conference here.
"This has been due to lockdown, timely identification, and management of COVID-19 cases. Through stringent containment measures we broke the chain of transmission," he added.
The Joint Secretary said that a look at the number of COVID-19 cases timeline in India revealed that, "the curve is relatively flat and there was no sharp jump/spike in the trajectory."
He added that it was important to practice social distancing, and other preventive aspects till a vaccine/cure for the infection was found.
"India's success has come because of the support and fight by the people, we need to continue this and practice social distancing as a social vaccine, as said by the Prime Minister," Agarwal said.
He had earlier said that the recovery rate of COVID-19 cases in India has been improving considerably while the fatality rate is among the lowest in the world.
"A total of 60,490 patients have recovered so far from COVID-19. The recovery rate continues to improve and presently it is 41.61 percent. The fatality rate is one among the lowest in the world, and it is at 2.87 percent now," Agarwal said. (ANI)