India recorded 3,14,835 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday—the world’s highest daily tally—as the second wave of the infection raised fears about hospitals running low on oxygen supply and beds and the healthcare system collapsing under immense pressure.
In Delhi, Aakash Healthcare on Thursday raised an alarm for an immediate supply of medical oxygen for Covid patients admitted to the hospital. In a video, COO Dr Kousar A. Shah said the hospital had only around 90 minutes of oxygen supply left. “We have 233 Covid patients admitted to the hospital and 75 percent of them are totally dependent on oxygen. We only have oxygen stock of 1 to 1.5 hours. We don’t know how we will manage,” he said.
Shah said his whole team is trying to arrange oxygen from all possible avenues but nothing can be arranged. “Our whole team is trying to make arrangements for oxygen, but help can’t be arranged. Yesterday, with the help of the Delhi Police, some cylinders were arranged but those lasted for just a few hours. We are absolutely helpless,” he said, adding, “Our oxygen supply from other states can’t reach us as states are not allowing the transport. We are in dire need of some help.”
A similar situation arose at Delhi’s Shanti Mukand Hospital, where chief Dr Sunil Saggar broke into tears on Thursday, saying that they have only two hours of oxygen supply left. “We have 110 patients on oxygen, 12 on ventilators and 85 on more than 5 litres per minute of oxygen. Apart from this, there are other cancer patients and cardiac patients. It will be an unfortunate condition. As a doctor, we should give them life and we cannot even give oxygen. If a patient comes here, they will die,” the CEO of the hospital told ANI, breaking into tears.
The AAP government has approached the Delhi High Court stating that Saroj Hospital and Shanti Mukund Hospital will run out of oxygen soon and that supply was being stopped by Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
Meanwhile, 2,104 deaths due to Covid-19 were also reported across the country on Thursday, taking India’s cumulative death toll to 1,84,657. Crematoriums have also reported they are overwhelmed with bodies. In East Delhi, a crematorium built funeral pyres in its parking lot to accommodate more bodies.
The infection also claimed the lives of renowned Islamic scholar and Padma Bhushan recipient Maulana Wahiduddin Khan and the older son of Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury, Ashish Yechury, on Thursday. President Ram Nath Kovind took to Twitter to condole the demise of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. Yechury also expressed his grief over his son’s death in a tweet, while thanking doctors and frontline workers who helped.
“The infrastructure is crumbling,” Shahid Jameel, a virologist and the director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, told Reuters. “Right now there are no beds, no oxygen. Everything else is secondary.”
This week, PM Modi urged people to stay indoors and assured the government was working to expand oxygen and vaccine supplies. He also cancelled a visit to West Bengal scheduled for Friday.
The Union Health Ministry said on Thursday that over 75 percent of the new Covid cases have come from only ten of India’s states—Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, and Rajasthan.
Maharashtra reported its highest daily new cases at 67,468, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 33,106 and Delhi with 24,638 new cases.
Kerala on Thursday also reported its highest-ever single-day figure with 26,995 new Covid-19 cases. With 1.56 lakh active cases, the test positivity rate stands at 19.97 per cent.
In a first since the pandemic started last year, Punjab’s daily case count crossed 5,000-mark as the state reported 5,456 Covid cases in 24 hours.
The number of total cases in India has now reached 1,59,30,965, including 22,91,428 active cases.
Many countries including the UK, the UAE and Israel have issued travel bans or warnings for India.
Madhukar Pai, professor of epidemiology at McGill University in Canada, said India was a cautionary tale for the world. “If we declare success too soon, open up everything, give up on public health, and not vaccinate rapidly, the new variants can be devastating,” he tweeted.
The total number of vaccinations in the country stands at 13,23,30,644.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 27,27,05,103 samples have been tested for Covid-19 up to April 21.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS