According to health ministry figures, the country on Sunday reported a record-high total of nearly 153,000 cases of coronavirus with 839 new deaths. India’s total business tax stands at more than 13.5 million – the second after the United States and Brazil – including nearly 170,000 deaths.
“Delhi is witnessing the fourth wave of coronavirus pandemic,” Kejriwal warned. “The situation is worrying, the government is working to improve it.”
At least 57 doctors in New Delhi tested positive for Covid-19 this week.
About 37 doctors working at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the city tested positive – having received both doses of the vaccine before. The doctors have mild symptoms, but 32 are under isolation from the home, while five have been admitted to hospital to avoid the risk of infecting their families, a hospital spokesman told CNN. The hospital authorities are investigating the source of their infection, discovered on Thursday and further contact detection is underway, the official added.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi confirmed on Friday that at least 20 doctors were found to be infected with Covid-19. Two doctors who tested positive received both doses of coronavirus vaccine, AIIMS told CNN. All of the infected people have mild symptoms and have been isolated in the home, officials said.
The western state of Maharashtra is also a major source of concern. Eight of the ten best districts in India have been hit the hardest in Maharashtra, including the capital Mumbai, officials said last week. Public spaces such as parks, shopping malls, cinemas and religious centers have been closed until further notice in the state, and all restaurants can only serve a pick-up point.
Thousands of migrant workers attempted to leave major cities like Mumbai last year after locksmiths left them without work or pay, and locals fear this scenario would be repeated.
“Obviously some sectors are being affected more, which could lead to a migration of workers,” Hariharan Kumar, a lawyer in Mumbai, told CNN on Sunday. “They are afraid of losing their jobs and wages.”
“People get tired to some extent, but I think others also realize that this is the best case,” he added.
India now regularly gives more than 3 million vaccines a day, surpassing the daily implementation of the United States and making a profit from China, according to the research group Our World in Data from Oxford.
Gaurav Preet Singh (28) received his first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India in Ludhiana in Punjab, a state in northern India. The businessman told CNN that he now feels “safe” after experiencing side effects such as fever and fatigue.
“It’s going well and it looks like a lot of people are taking it,” Singh said. “It’s completely safe and it’s perfectly fine – I can get back to normal.”
However, states such as Maharashtra, Odisha and Punjab have complained about vaccine shortages, and several districts in Maharashtra have had to suspend the vaccinations, the state’s health minister said on Thursday.
Singh said doctors in the area had stopped giving the vaccines to people under 45 due to shortages.
There are slack restrictions in Ludhiana, he said with evening clock at 21:00 local time, but shops and hospitality remain open. Many people he knows who are not vaccinated get the virus, he added.
According to a senior administrative official in Mumbai, more than 70 centers in the city said there were no vaccines available. The central government said it was doing everything in its power to help the states, the health minister said in a statement earlier this week.
‘Do not allow the vaccination center to do [sic] closed while doses are flown out of the country, ”he said.
On Saturday, Kejriwal announced a series of new restrictions in Delhi to fight the coronavirus peak there.
These include a ban on all gatherings (social, political or religious), a restriction on attending weddings and funerals at 50 and 20 people respectively, and restaurants, movie theaters and public transport must be offered at half the visit.
Authorities in Delhi announced on Friday that all educational institutions will remain closed until further notice.