Weekly Covid deaths see sharpest fall ever

India registered the sharpest weekly fall in Covid-related deaths, with fatalities down 45% from the previous seven days. Deaths reported during the week (June 14-20) also dipped below 14,000 - at an average of less than 2,000 a day - for the first time in the last nine weeks.

The country reported 13,886 deaths during June 14-20, down from 25,058 fatalities in the previous week. Prior to this week, the sharpest drop in weekly cases was 34% in June 22-28 last year, a week after nearly 1,700 "backlog" deaths were announced.

On Sunday, 53,237 fresh cases were recorded, the lowest daily count since March 30. At 1,008, the day saw the fewest deaths since April 12.

While daily fatalities have been steadily declining, the sharp drop in the weekly toll was because of a big dip in backlog deaths. This week, at least 5,151 such deaths were added to the toll as opposed to 11,875 last week. Weekly cases fell another 30% as compared with the previous seven days. This was the sixth straight week of declining cases since second wave peak on May 3-9.