The coronavirus crisis in India is deepening, with hospitals moving under increasing pressure from second-wave infections.
The country in South Asia reported 259,170 new cases and 1,761 deaths over a 24-hour period on Tuesday, according to government data. This is the sixth consecutive day that India’s daily death toll exceeds 200,000, while the daily death toll – still relatively low – is higher.
Cases have been on the rise since February and so far this month, India has reported more than 3.1 million new cases and more than 18,000 deaths. The total cumulative cases are 15 million, making India the second worst infected country behind the United States.
“Because of the huge number of cases, due to the boom, we are seeing hospitals really overwhelmed – and this is a challenge we need to address,” K VijayRaghavan, chief scientific adviser to the Indian government, told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia “said. “on Tuesday.
Hospitals turn away patients due to a shortage of beds – including those who are critically ill. According to media reports, unrelated patients are being forced to share beds. There are also few oxygen supplies in health care facilities and the government apparently leads oxygen intended for medical use industries.
VijayRaghavan said the government is trying to address the tensions on the medical system by moving health workers from one place to another and setting up emergency hospitals.
Covid facility will be prepared on April 19, 2021 in New Delhi, India, at the Commonwealth Games Village Sports Complex.
Mohd Zakir | Hindustan Times | Getty Images
States partially halt
India has so far resisted a second nationwide exclusion – the nationwide exclusion of last year from the end of March to May has unduly harmed the informal sector and India knocked off its growth path.
However, states increase social restrictions because places that are hit hard partially lock up.
The center of the second wave is India’s richest state, Maharashtra, which is home to the country’s financial capital Mumbai. The western state has reported more than a million new cases since the beginning of April.
Maharashtra is already in a state of partial exclusion until May 1st. According to reports, further restrictions are expected as the daily score shows few signs of slowing down.
The national capital of Delhi, as well as the most populous state of India, Uttar Pradesh, also counts among a handful of regions and states where Covid-19 cases are on the rise.
Delhi on Monday entered a six-day partial exclusion where only essential services would be allowed.
Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal said at a virtual press conference that although he is usually against a lockdown, people will help the house in Delhi, it will help the local government to get more hospital beds and is working with the federal government to increase the supply of oxygen and medicine. He begged people to observe the closure and not go out unnecessarily.
Other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have also tightened restrictions such as the introduction of night clocks.
The extension of vaccines to more groups
Serum Institute Manufactured AstraZeneca’s shot, known locally as Covishield. The world’s largest vaccine manufacturer said earlier that its production capacity was ‘very stressed’ and that it needed about $ 400 million to increase supply.
VijayRaghavan told CNBC that India ‘is fully aware that we are part of global supply chains and that there is a moral, economic and pragmatic responsibility to strike the balance between what we need for our people and what we need’. , and our responsibilities elsewhere. And we will both meet it. ‘
India also recently approved a third emergency vaccine – Sputnik V, developed in Russia. It also approved foreign-made vaccines approved by the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, and the agencies listed by the World Health Organization.