WHO denies issuing warning of 50,000 COVID-19 deaths in India by April 15, says its 'fake news'

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has refuted reports claiming that it has issued a warning on 50,000 fatalities due to COVID-19 in India by April 15. Taking to Twitter, the world health body said the video claiming that the WHO has warned of 50,000 deaths in India is "fake news".

The WHO has not issued any such warning, it clarified. "A video claiming WHO has warned of 50,000 COVID19 deaths in India by 15 April is fake news. WHO has not issued any such warning," tweeted World Health Organization Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO).

India has so far reported over 1,26,86,049 COVID-19 cases. The death toll in the country has gone up to 1,65,547. In February, the WHO thanked India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "supporting vaccine equity".

WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hoped that other countries would follow India's example. "Thanks, India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for supporting vaccine equity. Your commitment to COVAX and sharing COVID-19 vaccine doses is helping 60+ countries start vaccinating their health workers and other priority groups. I hope other countries will follow your example," Tedros wrote in a tweet.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, India has sent a total of 645.02 lakh vaccine doses to various countries so far.