Four questions on India’s second wave of COVID-19
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The second wave of COVID-19 in India has been devastating, with a catastrophic rise in the numbers of new infections in recent weeks. The country has now recorded over 18.7 million cases and over 208,000 deaths. The outbreak of the new coronavirus is overwhelming for all healthcare providers. The situation is dire, with a lack of medical supplies including oxygen concentrators and ventilators, and limited human resources. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is currently responding in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra state in western India. Below we outline four questions and answers on the current COVID-19 crisis in India.
Nandurbar, a tribal and hilly district in Maharashtra with a population of 20 lakh, is an unlikely contender for setting a precedent for the rest of India, but under the leadership of district collector Dr Rajendra Bharud, it took several measures to augment medical oxygen supply ahead of the second wave of Covid-19. Now that Delhi and several other cities are running short of oxygen for critical patients, this district is well equipped to meet the challenge.
This is surprising for a district whose human development index is 0.604. Nandurbar is far away from big cities. It has limited private health facilities and resources – there are only two government doctors with an MD degree. There are no medical colleges. When there are no testing facilities, it would be too much to expect a liquid oxygen plant.
Maharashtra CM wants third phase of vaccination to start on May 1: Rajesh Tope ANI | Updated: May 01, 2021 05:51 IST
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 30 (ANI): Maharashtra Health minister Rajesh Tope on Friday said that Maharashtra government will start a nominal vaccination drive on May 1 as Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray believes that vaccination for those between 18 and 44 must start vaccination from May 1. Maharashtra CM believes that vaccination must start vaccination from May 1, when Maharashtra Day is celebrated. So just for the inauguration, we will start a nominal vaccination drive on that day, he said. We have vaccinated over 5 lakh people in a day and we have the capacity to vaccinate 13 lakh people in a day. We are number one in vaccination, he added.
As Covid cases dip, bed availability in Mumbai hospitals improves
April 30, 2021
On April 29 the infection rate was at 9.94 per cent - PTI×
Oxygen supplies have also improved to 250-270 tonnes
With Mumbai’s Covid-19 cases going down, the number of available beds has increased. Of the total 21,796 Covid beds across all city hospitals, the number of vacant beds jumped to 5,725 on Friday.
According to the numbers shared by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), since April 1 the percentage of positive cases has been falling with some fluctuations.
On April 1, as many as 44,328 Covid tests were conducted out of which 9,242 reported positive and the infection rate was 20.85 per cent. On April 4, due to the massive rise in Covid-19 cases, the Maharashtra government imposed Section-144 restrictionsacross the State. On that day, the infection rate was 27.94 per cent with 10,304 positive cases.