Asia | India v Pakistan v covid-19

Is Pakistan really handling the pandemic better than India?

It appears to be, though the official data do not tell the whole story

|ISLAMABAD

IN STATISTICS IF not in cricket, India tends to trump its perennial rival Pakistan. It is four times larger in area, seven times in population and ten times in GDP. Yet in the dismal realm of covid-19, bigger numbers are nothing to boast of. According to both countries’ official tallies, every week of the past month has claimed more Indian lives than the entire nine months of the pandemic have in Pakistan—some 6,500.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “India v Pakistan v covid-19”

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