The COVID-19 situation getting grimmer in India as it reported 346,786 more coronavirus infections in a single day, a new world record, on Saturday, with Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, UP, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal remain the worst-hit states.
According to Indian Ministry of health, total coronavirus cases have surged to 16,610,481.
Amid oxygen shortage and faltering health system in the country, India saw 2,624 deaths in highest single-day spike. The death toll from the deadly infection stands at 189,549. The country now has more than 2.55 million active cases.
India first hit the grim milestone of more than 300,000 cases on Thursday, when it recorded 314,000 infections in a day.
Delhi reported 348 deaths due to coronavirus as hospitals in the national capital continued to grapple with a severe shortage of medical oxygen. As many as 24,331 fresh cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Maharashtra logged 773 deaths in the last 24 hours, registering its biggest single-day spike in the death count, according to official data. The worst-hit state also reported 66,836 new cases.
West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh recorded 12,876 and 37,238 cases respectively.
The six most affected states by total cases are Maharashtra (4,161,676), Kerala (1,322,054), Karnataka (1,247,997), Tamil Nadu (1,037,711), and Andhra Pradesh (997,462), Uttar Pradesh (976,765) and Delhi (956,348).
India’s healthcare infrastructure is reeling under the second wave of the pandemic as thousands of new coronavirus cases emerge every day. This has led to an acute shortage of oxygen, beds and timely medical care across several states.
Social media is awash with desperate calls for ambulances, ICU beds and medicines. Even hospitals are taking to Twitter to plead with the government to replenish their oxygen supplies and threatening to stop admissions of new patients.
Earlier this week, the Indian government had announced that the railways will run special trains to supply oxygen. The “Oxygen Express” made its first stop at Maharashtra’s Nagpur on Friday evening.
The Centre has also decided to prohibit the supply of oxygen to industrial units in order to divert the stock for medical use. The Indian industry needs 4,600 metric tonnes of oxygen a day, but its daily requirement for medical oxygen is currently more than that. And the country may run out of stocks in a few weeks even if all industrial oxygen is diverted to medical use.
