India daily coronavirus cases double to 2,00,000 in 10 days

India’s daily coronavirus caseload has doubled in 10 days, with a record 2,00,000 new infections logged Thursday as authorities grapple with shortages of vaccines, treatments and hospital beds.

Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and crowds at cricket matches, India is experiencing a vicious second wave, recording almost two million fresh infections this month alone.

This week, it overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of cases worldwide, after the United States.

The novel coronavirus has killed at least 29,74,651 people since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP at 1000 GMT on Thursday.

At least 13,82,13,350 cases of coronavirus have been registered. On Wednesday, 13,427 new deaths and 7,76,939 new cases were recorded worldwide.

In the past day it also recorded over 1,000 deaths, health ministry data showed, taking its total to 1,75,000, although on a per-capita basis India is far behind many other countries.

After a nationwide lockdown a year ago caused widespread misery and one of the sharpest downturns of any major economy, the government is desperate to avoid repeating the hugely unpopular shutdown.

But many states are tightening the screws, in particular Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai, which this week introduced tougher restrictions for its 125 million people.

This has prompted many migrant workers to flee Mumbai and other cities in the state, in scenes reminiscent of the exodus last year when the government halted all activity almost overnight.

The capital New Delhi on Thursday became the latest to impose a weekend curfew and ordering shopping malls, gyms and spas to stay shut from Friday evening.

The megacity of around 25 million inhabitants recorded over 17,000 fresh cases on Wednesday, its highest single-day tally since the pandemic began.

Uttar Pradesh, a sprawling state in northern India with a population of more than 240 million, also imposed curfews in major cities as it scrambled to control a recent surge in cases — with its chief minister Yogi Adityanath admitted to hospital with the virus on Thursday.

Indian hospitals are now struggling to cope, running short of beds, oxygen and coronavirus medicines like Remdesivir.

In a new disturbing trend, doctors across the most-affected cities said they had seen an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients aged below 45 and suffering from more severe symptoms compared to last year.

‘We are also seeing children under the ages of 12 and 15 being admitted with symptoms in the second wave. Last year there were practically no children presenting symptoms,’ said Khusrav Bajan, a consultant at Mumbai’s PD Hinduja National Hospital.

The country’s drive to vaccinate its 1.3 billion people has also hit obstacles, with just 114 million shots administered so far and stocks running low, according to local authorities.

New Delhi has put the brakes on exports from the Serum Institute — which has supplied dozens of nations with COVID vaccines — in order to prioritise domestic needs.

Even as infections soar, several religious festivals are on-going, including the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar in northern India, which has seen almost five million Hindu pilgrims — mostly maskless — massing on the banks of the holy Ganges River this week.

The virus was detected in almost 2,000 people in just 48 hours in Haridwar, officials said Wednesday.

‘Our faith is the biggest thing for us. It is because of that strong belief that so many people have come here to take a dip in Ganga,’ Siddharth Chakrapani, a member of one of the Kumbh Mela organising committees, said.

Many crematoriums are also struggling, according to press reports.

Based on latest reports, the countries with the most new deaths were Brazil with 3,459 new deaths, followed by India with 1,038 and United States with 859.

The United States is the worst-affected country with 5,64,405 deaths from 3,14,22,228 cases.

After the US, the hardest-hit countries are Brazil with 3,61,884 deaths from 1,36,73,507 cases, Mexico with 2,10,812 deaths from 22,91,246 cases, India with 1,73,123 deaths from 1,40,74,564 cases, and Britain with 1,27,161 deaths from 43,78,305 cases.

Europe overall has 10,11,815 deaths from 4,71,81,750 cases, Latin America and the Caribbean 8,46,330 deaths from 2,66,54,271 infections, and the United States and Canada 5,87,835 deaths from 3,25,06,610 cases.

Asia has reported 2,90,431 deaths from 2,03,09,384 cases, the Middle East 1,20,490 deaths from 71,35,628 cases, Africa 1,16,741 deaths from 43,84,944 cases, and Oceania 1,009 deaths from 40,768 cases.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/135383/india-daily-coronavirus-cases-double-to-200000-in-10-days