Narayan Mitra died on July 16 in India’s northeastern Assam state. His death came one day after going to the hospital with a high temperature and breathing difficulties. Test results later showed that Mitra had been infected with the coronavirus. But his name never appeared on any of the official lists of those killed by the coronavirus. Doctors said the virus was an “incidental” influence on his death. They said his death was caused by a neurological disorder. The Associated Press reports that India’s national government has asked states not to say an underlying condition caused a patient’s death in cases where COVID-19 has been confirmed by tests. India has recorded more than 5.1 million COVID-19 infections. That is ahead of all other countries except the United States. It has recorded more than 83,000 COVID-related deaths. That is lower than expected considering its number of infections.
