Patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19) receive treatment in the victim ward of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital (LNJP), amid the spread of the disease in New Delhi, India, on April 15. 2021. REUTERS / Danish Siddiqui / Photo file
India reported a record daily increase in coronavirus infections over the past 24 hours, according to health ministry data on Sunday, exacerbating shortages of oxygen supplies and hospital beds in some of the states. most affected cities in the country.
India reported 261,500 new cases, bringing the total number of cases to almost 14.8 million, only after the United States reported more than 31 million infections.
India’s deaths from COVID-19 increased by 1,501 to a total of 177,150, according to the data.
India, affected by the spread of more contagious variants of the disease, is facing a severe shortage of hospital beds, oxygen supplies and critical drugs like the antiviral drug Remdesivir.
Concerned about a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday called on the authorities to withdraw all stops to increase production of COVID-19 vaccines.
Modi also reviewed the overall readiness of his administration and stressed the need to ensure the availability of hospital beds and the supply of oxygen and fans. He also called on his team to work closely with local governments, especially the 12 states devastated by an increase in coronavirus cases.
But opposition parties, including Congress, criticized Modi for tackling large election rallies to help his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win the state assembly elections in East West Bengal. .
On Saturday, addressing a large gathering of his followers in West Bengal, Modi said, “I can see a sea of masses. I have not seen a gathering like this.”
The ruling Aam Aadmi (Common Man) party in the capital, New Delhi, mocked Modi’s political rallies by posting images on social media of funeral pyres in the city’s overcrowded crematoria.
“The pleasure of the Prime Minister (Prime Minister) in view of a large crowd at his election meeting in Asansol (West Bengal) in Covid’s time could have come only from a completely insensitive person,” said Yashwant Sinha, former cabinet minister who split from the BJP, he said on Twitter. “I regret your remarks.”
Stung by the shortage of hospital beds and oxygen cylinders, people used Twitter to seek help and post pictures of crowded hospitals.
On Saturday, New Delhi registered 24,000 cases of coronavirus in a 24-hour period and its chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, warned about the chronic shortage of hospital beds.
Separately, last night at least five coronavirus patients died in a hospital fire in Raipur, the capital of the central state of Chhattisgarh.
The rest of the patients had been evacuated to other coronavirus facilities, said Tarkeshwar Patel, additional superintendent of Raipur police.
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