India's COVID death rate hit record in June after calls for better data

FILE PHOTO: Members of the State Disaster Response Force patrol in the Ganges river past burning pyres of bodies that washed up on its banks after monsoon rains swelled it and exposed shallow sand graves dug during the peak of the latest COVID-19 wave in Phaphamau on the outskirts of Prayagraj, India, June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ritesh Shukla/File Photo

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's COVID-19 deaths relative to infections hit a record high in June after cases peaked in early May, an analysis of government data shows, amid pressure on authorities to accurately report deaths from a second wave of the virus.

A big rise in infections in April and May, driven largely by the more infectious and dangerous Delta variant, brought India's health system to its knees.