NEW DELHI, India (AP) — India passed a grim milestone in its fight against the coronavirus on Saturday, with health authorities saying the country has recorded more than 100,000 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began.

The announcement from the Health Ministry means that nearly 10 per cent of the more than 1 million people to die globally in the pandemic have done so in India, behind only the United States and Brazil. India has seen more than 6.4 million total confirmed infections, recording more than 79,000 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government are facing criticism for failing to stop the march of the virus, which in September hit India harder than any other nation in the world. Almost 41 per cent of India’s total infections and 34 per cent of COVID-19 deaths were reported in September alone, with an average of nearly 1,100 Indians dying every day from the virus.

As in many countries, Modi and his government have struggled with how to balance virus restrictions with the need to boost a contracting economy in which millions are newly jobless.

Even as the nation reaches 100,000 confirmed deaths, experts say that number is likely still an undercount. They say many COVID-19 deaths may have been attributed to other causes, especially in the early days of the pandemic when testing was abysmally low for a country with a population of 1.4 billion.

“India’s fatalities numbers don’t reflect the true extent of the damage the virus has done,” said Dr T Jacob John, a retired virologist.

India’s poor track record to register mortality data even before the pandemic has further amplified questions over the actual death toll. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump, during the first presidential debate, suggested India was underreporting deaths, though he provided no evidence.

India’s first COVID-19 death was reported on March 12. Over the next five months, the disease killed 50,000 people. It took just 45 more days for that number to double, underscoring the severity of a pandemic that has swamped intensive care units and morgues and also contributed to the deaths of medical professionals.