COVID-19 in India: Steady rise in deaths, too

The government said there has been increasing demand for medical oxygen, especially from 12 states with high burden of active cases -- Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

COVID-19 in India: Steady rise in deaths, too

Bodies lined up for cremation at Hindon river crematorium in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, on Friday. Pic/PTI

India for the second consecutive day reported over two lakh cases. According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday morning, 1,185 new fatalities were registered in the past 24 hours.

The constant rise in cases and hospitalisations for the past 37 days has resulted in huge demand for oxygen. So far, 4,880 MT, 5,619 MT and 6,593 MT have been identified for the 12 high-burden states for meeting their projected demand as on April 20, April 25 and April 30, respectively. Sources of medical oxygen and their production capacity was mapped to match the requirement of states.

“In view of increasing demand for medical oxygen, the government has decided to float a tender for import of 50,000 MT of medical oxygen. Union health ministry has been directed to finalise the tender for the same and also explore possible sources for import identified by the missions of MEA,” the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Friday said the US needs to lift its embargo on raw material exports to help ramp up vaccine production.

SII is currently manufacturing anti-coronavirus vaccine Covishield, developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University. The vaccine is not only being used in India, but exported to a number of countries.

Give actual data: Gujarat HC

Stressing on the need to be honest and transparent in the wake of a sudden spike in cases in Gujarat, the High Court has asked the state government to publish actual data on RT-PCR tests and people found positive for COVID-19, according to an order made available on Friday.

Virus spreads mainly via air

There is consistent, strong evidence to prove that the SARS-CoV-2 virus, behind the COVID-19 pandemic, is predominantly transmitted through the air, according to a new assessment published on Friday in The Lancet journal.

“The evidence supporting airborne transmission is overwhelming, and evidence supporting large droplet transmission is almost non-existent,” said Jose-Luis Jimenez, from the University of Colorado Boulder in the US. The analysis was done by six experts from the UK, the US and Canada.

Security forces see five-fold jump in 10 days

Paramilitary forces have almost witnessed five-fold increase in active cases in the past 10 days. As of April 5, 522 Central Armed Police Forces jawans had contracted the virus, but the tally now stands at 2,915. The single-day tally also increased over five times. Fifty seven jawans had tested positive on April 5, while on Thursday, the figure stood at 301.

The Border Security Force (BSF), which had only 20 cases on April 5, had 117 daily cases on April 15 . The total number of active cases in BSF stands at 1,850, against 166, 10 days back. Similarly, CRPF, CISF, SSB and NSG have also witnessed a massive spike. Meanwhile, all hospitals of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police have been “activated” and a COVID Care Centre has been operationalised in Delhi for serving and retired personnel of the force.

K’taka CM gets COVID twice in eight months

Karnataka Chief MinisterB S Yediyurappa on Friday tested positive for Coronavirus for the second time in eight months, and has been shifted to a private hospital for treatment. The 78-year-old BJP leader was earlier hospitalised for COVID-19 on August 2, 2020. Meanwhile, Union minister Prakash Javadekar, Congress leaders Randeep Surjewala and Digvjaya Singh tested positive for Coronavirus on Friday.

Bengal polls won’t be clubbed: CEO

A senior poll official on Friday said there will be no rescheduling of the remaining phases of voting in West Bengal. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ariz Aftab had called an all-party meeting following a Calcutta High Court directive to ensure strict implementation of COVID-19 protocols during campaigns. He asked political parties to strictly follow the rules while campaigning. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had sought clubbing of the remaining phases of polling. In the first 15 days of this month, West Bengal registered 49,970 new cases of the contagion and 151 COVID-19 fatalities.

1,42,91,917
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far

1,74,308
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

1,25,47,866
Total no. of patients Recovered and discharged in India so far

11,72,23,509
(Total no. of people vaccinated so far)

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