How many actually died during the second wave?

The majority of respondents were not in agreement with the official numbers on Covid deaths in different states, as per IANS-CVoter Omicron Snap Poll.

The snap poll had a sample size of 1,942. The poll tried to find out what Indians thought about the actual number of deaths during the second wave after six months had passed. The results were interesting.

While only 23.4 per cent of the respondents felt that the number of Indians dead was less than official estimates, only a little more than 16 per cent said that the official numbers were correct. To sum it up, close to 40 per cent of the respondents seemed to be in broad agreement with the claims made by the government.

What about the others? While 23.5 per cent respondents said almost twice the number have died than the official estimates, about 11.6 per cent felt that between 3 to 4 times more people have died. Finally, 13 per cent of the respondents were confident that the actual number of Indians who died during the second wave must be more than 5 times the estimates given by various State Governments.

Broadly speaking, a majority of the respondents were not in agreement with the official numbers on Covid deaths in different states.

The number of Indians who actually died during the second wave continues to remain a mystery as well as a controversy.


While official government reports continue to suggest that just about 2.5 lakh Indians died during the second wave, numerous other studies suggested a far higher number. An IANS-CVoter tracker had revealed last year that at least 4 per cent of the respondents contacted during the daily tracking survey stated that someone in their family, friend circle, neighbourhood, office or acquaintance circle had died during the second wave. This indicated an actual figure far higher than the official estimates. -IANS