Fifty Indian doctors have died from coronavirus in a single day as the country struggles with a punishing second wave of infections and deaths.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) said that 244 doctors had lost their lives to Covid-19 so far this year, with 50 dying on Sunday.
On Monday evening, the former president of the IMA, Dr KK Aggarwal died after ‘a lengthy battle with Covid-19,’ according to a post from his Twitter account.
The deaths bring the total number of Indian doctors to have died from Covid-19 since the pandemic began last spring to nearly 1,000 it said.
This is thought to represent only a portion of the total number of Indian doctors likely to have died from coronavirus as the IMA only records deaths among its 350,000 members. India has more than 1,200,000 doctors, according to NDTV.
The IMA said that many doctors are yet to be vaccinated and are made increasingly vulnerable to catching the virus due to overwork.
Rural officials have warned that ‘entire families’ have been wiped out by the disease, with representatives from more than 18 towns and villages saying the extent of the devastation in rural communities is not being properly recorded.
God help Indian