It's not just COVID-19 deaths, raw death numbers (as measured by death certificates, you cannot cremate/bury people without one) are down as well -- this report has some evidence, including lower business in at crematoriums[1]. This is likely due to the very stringent lockdown in India, and the somewhat underrated fact that traffic collisions and accidents kill huge numbers of people every day in India.

That said, while lower death rates (India's seem to be about half of the world's death rate) are to be celebrated, there are confounding factors.

1) The reported death count are mostly hospital deaths only. Home deaths aren't counted.

2) As the article notes, mis-diagnosing is a problem especially outside hospitals.

But if there's something that genuinely is reducing the death rate, then that's obviously a huge opportunity to study and learn from.

[1] https://www.livemint.com/news/india/india-s-lower-death-rate...