Video claims 50,000 Covid-19 deaths in India by April 15, WHO says it's fake

“A video claiming WHO has warned of 50,000 Covid-19 deaths in India by April 15 is FAKE NEWS. WHO has NOT issued any such warning,” the Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO) said in a tweet on Tuesday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued a clarification after a video claimed that the global body issued a warning about 50,000 deaths in the country due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), saying it was fake and that it has not issued any such warning. “A video claiming WHO has warned of 50,000 Covid-19 deaths in India by April 15 is FAKE NEWS. WHO has NOT issued any such warning,” the Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO) said in a tweet on Tuesday.

World Health Organisation (WHO) logo is seen. (Reuters)

India has so far reported 165,547 Covid-19 related fatalities, which is the fourth largest death toll in the world. The US, Brazil and Mexico hold the first, second and third positions, respectively in terms of the total death toll in the world, according to data collated by Worldometer. On Tuesday morning, India recorded 96,982 new cases of the coronavirus cases (Covid-19) and 446 related deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare. With this, the country’s tally soared past 12.68 million. The active cases of Covid-19 in the country surged to 788,223 showing a steady increase for the 27th day in a row, the health ministry's dashboard showed. Between Tuesday morning and Monday 50,143 patients recovered from the infection which took the total recoveries in the country to 11,732,279.

India has become only the second country in the world, after the US, to add more than 100,000 Covid-19 cases in a single day at any time during the pandemic. The country added 103,796 fresh Covid-19 cases on Monday. As India added 73,301 Covid-19 cases on an average a day over the week till Saturday, the country surpassed Brazil’s average tally of 66,176 and the US’ 65,624.