According to the report, states with high per capita GDP have been associated with higher Covid deaths per million while those with low per capita GDP are associated with low Covid deaths.
Thus, states like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh have reported high per million Covid deaths. Maharashtra, with almost 1,000 deaths per million population, is the worst-hit state in terms of fatalities.
It is also the worst-hit state in India with over 6.1 million cases since the outbreak last year.
All these states also have high per capita GDP. Except Himachal, the per capita GDP in all these states is over Rs 2 lakh. Per capita GDP or income refers to the average annual income earned by an individual.
Comparatively, states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and Rajasthan have lower per million Covid deaths. Maharashtra, with just 77 deaths per million population, is the least affected state in this group.
With the exception of Rajasthan, all these states also have per capita GDP of under Rs 1 lakh. Bihar’s per capita income is under Rs 50,000.
Interestingly, the trend is observed at the global level too.
Country-wise data reveals that nations with high per capita GDP have been associated with higher Covid-19 deaths per million.
Hence, nations like US, UK, France and Germany have suffered higher fatalities compared to places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Indonesia.
The SBI report further observed that states like Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Telangana are the only ones with higher per capita income but lower number of deaths due to Covid.
While the reason behind the anomaly is not specified in the report, a host of factors could be behind the skewed ratio, including under-reporting of deaths, population density, uneven spread of Covid in rural and urban areas, etc.