New Delhi: On Thursday, India became the third country in the world to reach the dismal milestone of 5 lakh COVID-19 deaths, behind the United States and Brazil.

It took 217 days for the country to achieve 5 lakh deaths, up from 4 lakh on July 1 last year, the longest time for a country to reach 1 lakh deaths.

In April-May of last year, India was rocked by a devastating second wave. On May 23, the country's death toll surpassed three lakh, and on April 27, it surpassed two lakh. On October 2, 2020, the dead toll surpassed one lakh.

According to Union Health Ministry figures updated at 8 a.m., the overall number of deaths has risen to 5,00,055, with 1,072 daily fatalities. According to Worldometers, which has been accumulating global COVID-19 data, the United States has the highest number of deaths attributable to the virus, with over 9.2 lakh, followed by Brazil with over 6.3 lakh.

The highly transmissible Omicron form is currently causing a third wave of Covid in India. Experts said the instances are generally moderate this time around, compared to the second wave.

The government announced on Thursday that the pandemic situation has improved, and that, while there are still some states and districts to be concerned about, the spread of COVID-19 infection has slowed overall.

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