BENGALURU, India – For the first time in months, Izhaar Hussain Shaikh is feeling somewhat optimistic.
The 30-year-old ambulance driver in India’s metropolis of Mumbai has been working tirelessly ever since the city became the epicenter of another catastrophic COVID-19 surge slashing through the country. Last month, he drove about 70 patients to the hospital, his cellphone constantly vibrating with calls.
But two weeks into May, he’s only carried 10 patients. Cases are falling and so are the phone calls. We used to be so busy before, we didn’t even have time to eat, he said.
In the last week, the number of new cases plunged by nearly 70% in India’s financial capital, home to 22 million people. After a peak of 11,000 daily cases, the city is now seeing fewer than 2,000 a day.
Infections feared to be spreading in rural areas where testing is not available
A patient at a coronavirus centre built by the state at the Commonwealth Games Village Sports Complex during lockdown restrictions in New Delhi, India. Bloomberg
A dose of coronaviris vaccine is given at a drive-through centre set up at the CyberHub marketplace in Gurgaon, Haryana, northern India. Bloomberg
A police officer in Kochi, Kerala state, shelters from the rain as he enforces a lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. AP Photo
People walk down an alley in New Delhi during a lockdown as coronavirus case numbers increase. AFP
COVID Cases in Mumbai Down 70%, Slowing in Other Parts of India
On 5/17/21 at 10:09 AM EDT
On Monday, the
Associated Press reported an average of 340,000 daily cases in India to below 300,000 in the last week.
With active cases over 3.6 million, hospitals are still swamped by patients. With over 24 million confirmed cases and 270,000 deaths, India s caseload is the second highest after the U.S.
But experts believe that the country s steeply rising curve may finally be flattening even if the plateau is a high one.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
A health worker takes a nasal swab sample of a Kashmiri man to test for COVID-19 in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on May 11, 2021. A dip in the number of coronavirus cases in Mumbai is offering a glimmer of hope for India, which is suffering through a surge of infections.
(This story originally appeared in on May 17, 2021)NEW DELHI: A faint glimmer of hope is visible on the horizon as India s burgeoning Covid caseload is on a decline, finally.
For the first time during the course of the second wave, India registered a fall in cases in the week ended Sunday.
Also, India s daily new cases fell below the 3 lakh mark for the first time since April 21 with the country reporting 2.81 lakh new infections on Monday.
The fatalities, however, continue to stay high.
Several hard-hit states like Maharashtra and Delhi appear to have crossed their peaks and are reporting lower numbers compared to couple of weeks ago.
BENGALURU, India (AP) For the first time in months, Izhaar Hussain Shaikh is feeling somewhat optimistic.
The 30-year-old ambulance driver in India’s metropolis of Mumbai has been working tirelessly ever since the city became the epicenter of another catastrophic Covid-19 surge slashing through the country. Last month, he drove about 70 patients to the hospital, his cellphone constantly vibrating with calls.
But two weeks into May, he’s only carried 10 patients. Cases are falling and so are the phone calls.
“We used to be so busy before, we didn’t even have time to eat,” he said.
In the last week, the number of new cases plunged by nearly 70% in India’s financial capital, home to 22 million people. After a peak of 11,000 daily cases, the city is now seeing fewer than 2,000 a day.