420 doctors died of COVID-19 in India's deadly second wave

Over a 100 doctors died in the capital New Delhi alone, with another 96 passing away in Bihar and at least 41 in Uttar Pradesh. These three regions have been the epicenter of the wave that has horrified the world. Among the dead is former head of the IMA, Dr. K.K. Agarwal, who passed away at age 65 despite having taken both shots of the vaccine.

As per the IMA, 748 doctors died in the first wave of the pandemic. It is important to note here that IMA only keeps a record of its 350,000 members. India has over 1.2 million registered doctors.

On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi turned visibly emotional as he thanked doctors and frontline workers during video conference with health workers in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The leader was accused of faking his tears by social media users.

As many as 2,57,299 fresh COVID-19 infections and 4,194 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry informed today.

Cases are on a decline during the past two weeks after peaking in April, however, health officials are warning of a third wave which might be more severe on children.