India grapples with virus surge
Calls grow for more oxygen, beds as rising cases in youth deepen worries
AFP, New Delhi
AFP, New Delhi
More government hospital beds will be freed for Covid-19 patients, India s health ministry said yesterday, as the vast nation grappled with a worsening virus crisis and states appealed for additional supplies of oxygen and treatment drugs.
The country of 1.3 billion people added a record-high of 261,500 new cases yesterday, with one-in-six people who underwent tests returning positive coronavirus results, the ministry said.
At the start of the year, India thought it had beaten the pandemic and had kicked off a mass vaccination drive. Face masks and social distancing were cast aside and huge crowds flocked to religious festivals and election rallies.
Weekend Shutdown In Delhi As Covid Grips India By Bhuvan Bagga with Sailendra Sil in Kolkata
04/16/21 AT 10:13 PM
New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown Saturday as India faces a ferocious new coronavirus wave, with more than 200,000 fresh daily cases and families clamouring for drugs and hospital beds.
Hopes that South Asian countries might have beaten the pandemic have been dashed with India seeing over two million new cases this month alone and Bangladesh and Pakistan imposing shutdowns.
India s per-capita rates remain low by international comparison, raising the prospect that infection numbers fuelled possibly by a virulent new double mutant may explode further.
Saturday, 17 Apr 2021 10:57 AM MYT
People carry the body of a man, who died from the coronavirus disease, from an ambulance for burial at a graveyard in New Delhi, India, April 16, 2021. Reuters pic
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NEW DELHI, Apr 17 New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown today as India faces a ferocious new coronavirus wave, with more than 200,000 fresh daily cases and families clamouring for drugs and hospital beds.
Hopes that South Asian countries might have beaten the pandemic have been dashed with India seeing over two million new cases this month alone and Bangladesh and Pakistan imposing shutdowns.