HIGHLIGHTS
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· Russia offers to help India battle Covid second wave, provides oxygen tankers and concentrators
NEW DELHI : India now has over 25 lakh active cases of Covid-19 as a second wave of infections continues to put enormous pressure on the country’s fatigued healthcare infrastructure. All central and state governments are acting on war footing to tide over the resurgence of the novel coronavirus pandemic that claimed another 2,624 lives in the last 24 hours alone.
Maharashtra, the worst-hit state, reported 67,000 new confirmed cases and 676 more deaths on Saturday.
A total of 38,000 new cases and 223 more deaths were recorded in Uttar Pradesh, followed by 26,000 new cases in Kerala and more than 24,000 fresh cases of infection in Delhi, which also witnessed another 357 more Covid deaths.
Chhattisgarh, one of the 10 states that accounted for 74.15 per cent of the new Covid-19 cases reported by the Health Ministry on April 24, added 16,000 new cases to its caseload.
Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal recorded 14,000 new cases each, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar 12,000 each and Andhra Pradesh 11,000 fresh confirmed cases on Saturday.
Vaccines in India
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) says India has administered 14 crore doses of the two vaccines approved for emergency use in 99 days. All above the age of 18 can register for the third phase of inoculation from April 28. The vaccines will, however, be administered from May 1 onwards.
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After UP, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, the state of Telangana and the UT of Jammu and Kashmir also announced free vaccination for all eligible recipients.
On Saturday, the Serum Institute of India (SII) issued a clarification over the pricing of its coronavirus vaccine Covishield. In the statement, Pune-based SII said only a limited number of doses will be sold to private hospitals at a cost of Rs 600 per dose.
Bharat Biotech also announced the prices for its indigenous jab Covaxin. It will be sold at a price of Rs 600 per dose to state governments and Rs 1,200 per dose to private hospitals, said the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker.
Shortage of medical oxygen, oxygen cylinders
Social media is flooded with SOS calls from hospitals and doctors warning authorities of the acute shortage of medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients.
In the early hours of Saturday, 20 patients died at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in New Delhi reportedly due to a lack of medical oxygen. Less than 24 hours later, the same hospital sent out a tweet saying that the lives of nearly 200 patients were at stake and the facility had run out of its supply of medical oxygen.
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A similar turn of events played out at a private hospital in Punjab’s Amritsar where a shortage of medical oxygen resulted in the deaths of six patients. While hospital authorities claim they had flagged the issue with the administration, the Punjab government said no such request was conveyed to them.
Two more patients died due to lack of medical oxygen at the Sardar Patel Hospital in Delhi which has now stopped taking in any new patients.
The GTB Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Delhi reduced the number of beds for Covid-19 patients by half on Saturday citing an unstable supply of liquid medical oxygen (LMO).
In West Bengal, the state government came out with a set of rules for issuing/refilling oxygen cylinders. These rules make it mandatory for anyone looking to buy or refill a medical oxygen cylinder to produce a doctor’s prescription.
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Courts warn officials, Centre on war-footing
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday where it was decided to exempt all oxygen and oxygen-related equipment, including cylinders, from basic customs duty and health cess. Similar steps have been taken with respect to the import of Covid-19 vaccines.
A bench of the Delhi High Court convened a special hearing on a holiday to address the issue and said any official who obstructs the supply of medical oxygen will be “hanged”. Referring to government officials who have held up tankers carrying medical oxygen in various states/UTs, the bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said during the three-hour-long hearing that “no one will be spared”.
Oxygen Express, an initiative of the Indian Railways, arrived at Nashik in Maharashtra and another in Uttar Pradesh carrying medical oxygen which is in short supply in this time of crisis.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) was also roped in to transport medical oxygen, four cryogenic tanks of which were flown in from Singapore using a C17 heavy-lift transport aircraft. This aircraft also ferried empty oxygen containers from Pune and another from Indore to filling stations in Gujarat’s Jamnagar.
States move in to contain spread of infection
On Saturday, the Tamil Nadu government ordered the closure of cinemas, places of worship, malls, bars, restaurants, gyms and salons till further notice.
The government in Andhra Pradesh imposed a night curfew between 10 pm and 5 am effective immediately. At the same time, the Jammu and Kashmir administration opted for a weekend curfew.
Uttarakhand government has ordered the closure of all government offices for now.
Similar restrictions are already in place in Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala and a number of other states and UTs in a bid to contain the spread of infection.
Members of Karnataka’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on Covid-19 are predicting a third wave of coronavirus infections in October-November of this year. On the basis of this prediction, the (TAC) has advised the Karnataka government to complete the vaccination of vulnerable groups before the next wave hits the state.
A total of 1,38,67,997 patients have recovered from Covid-19 in India since the beginning of the pandemic last year. The virus has, at the same time, claimed 1,89,544 lives across the country.(India Today)
