About a year and 25 days back, on March 24, when 564 India had a total of COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the citizens merely four hours’ notice and shut down the nation.
Home minister Amit Shah during a roadshow in support of BJP candidates at Bethuadahari in Nadia district, West Bengal, on Sunday. Pic/PTI
A record single-day rise of 2,61,500 cases and 1,501 deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, Union Health Ministry data of Sunday morning. About a year and 25 days back, on March 24, when India had a total of 564 COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave the citizens merely four hours’ notice and shut down the nation. Now, when hospitals are running out of beds, oxygen and ventilators, crucial in treating COVID-19 patients, and long queues of COVID-19 victims are forming outside crematoriums, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the situation does not require a lockdown in a hurry.
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“Initially, the purpose of the lockdown was different. We wanted to prepare infrastructure and the line of treatment. We did not have any medicines or a vaccine. The situation is different now,” Shah told the Indian Express in an exclusive interview. On Sunday, he went about with his public rallies for the West Bengal Assembly polls, addressing people, majority of whom were without a mask. Meanwhile, a minister from the ruling TMC said he won’t hold any large-scale campaigns in view of the rising cases, while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi cancelled his rallies.
Thank you, PM, for sparing time for COVID amid urgent war to conquer Bengal: PC
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thanking him for sparing “a little time” amid the “urgent war to conquer West Bengal”, to review the COVID-19 situation in the country. “Thank you Prime Minister for sparing a little time for Covid amidst the urgent war to conquer WEST BENGAL and annexe it to the BJP’s empire,” he tweeted.
Election campaigning in day COVID meeting at night
His remarks came after Modi chaired a COVID-19 review meeting with government officials on Saturday, amid a big surge in daily tally, with over 2 lakh cases being reported every day for the past four days.
A party campaigner: CPI(M)
PM Narendra Modi addresses a public rally at Gangarampur, West Bengal, on Saturday afternoon; he holds virtual Coronavirus review meet in New Delhi, later at night. Pics/PTI
The CPI(M) also hit out at Modi for continuing to campaign in West Bengal, alleging that he is demonstrating his role as a “partisan party campaigner” and not that of the PM. “As we Indians suffer under a raging pandemic, we unfortunately don’t have a union government. What we have is a PR company, with an electoral campaigner, callously and brazenly unleashing pain, misery and devastation over the masses. “Modi demonstrating his role as a partisan party campaigner is more important than that of India’s prime minister. That’s why his priority is the election campaign, if any time is left, he does something perfunctory for TV images & headlines. A sorry state,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a series of tweets.
Stop poll management: AAP
AAP leader Raghav Chadha asked the PM to “leave election management and start corona management”.
“Elections will come and go, please save human lives first,” he added.
Ex-PM’s five suggestions to tackle crisis
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday wrote to PM Narendra Modi, stating that ramping up vaccination is key to tackling the COVID-19 crisis. He made five suggestions in his letter to Modi.
>> The Centre should publicise vaccine dose orders placed and accepted for delivery over the next six months
>> The Centre should indicate how vaccine supplies are to be distributed to states
>> States should be given some flexibility to define categories of frontline workers who can be vaccinated even if they are below 45 years
>> The Centre must support vaccine producers to expand their manufacturing facilities quickly by providing funds and other concessions
>> It should allow import of vaccines cleared by credible international authorities without insisting on domestic bridging trials
Delhi struggling for COVID-19 beds
A COVID victim’s kin speaks on the phone from outside a mortuary in Delhi, on Sunday. Pic/PTI
The Delhi government on Sunday directed all nursing homes and private hospitals providing COVID treatment to reserve 80 per cent of their ICU and ward beds for Coronavirus patients. The occupancy of COVID ICU and ward beds in 115 private hospitals has reached “almost 100 per cent and 90 per cent”, respectively. The Northern Railways on Sunday deployed 50 isolation coaches with two oxygen cylinders at Shakur Basti railway station and 25 such facilities will be placed at Anand Vihar by Monday. Meanwhile, the Railways said on Sunday it will run ‘Oxygen Express’ over the next few days to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country.
‘Set aside 50% beds or face action’
Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Sunday warned private hospitals of legal action if they do not comply with the government order to reserve 50 per cent of the beds for COVID-19 patients in the state. He told reporters that Manipal Hospitals has not reserved the 50 per cent of beds yet.
Probe ordered into C’garh hospital fire
An enquiry has been ordered after five patients died in a fire at the COVID ward of a Rajdhani hospital in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur city on Saturday, police said on Sunday. Officials have been directed to conduct safety check at all COVID-19 hospitals.
1,47,88,109
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far
1,77,150
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far
1,28,09,643
Total no. of patients Recovered and discharged in India so far
12,26,22,590
(Total no. of people vaccinated so far)
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