Indian hospitals struggle to cope with virus surge
A “Tsunami” of Covid-19 infections saw India set a new global record for the fourth consecutive day as positive patients suffocated from a lack of oxygen amid hospital shortages.
The crisis deepened on Saturday as health officials recorded a further 349,691 cases of the disease and 2,767 more deaths, with mass crematoriums and funeral pyres burning in the capital, New Delhi and vast swathes of the country.
India’s total number of infections stands at nearly 17 million and deaths at 192,311, although experts fear the true figure is likely to be much higher and infections are yet to peak. In the last month alone, daily cases have gone up eight times and deaths by ten times.
Extreme pressure on hospital beds forced medics to turn some patients away, resulting in some people dying while waiting in queues for treatment. Others perished from a lack of oxygen as supplies reached dangerous levels or were completely exhausted.
Earlier this week, hospitals in Delhi went to the city’s high court asking it to order the state and federal governments to make emergency arrangements for medical supplies, mainly oxygen. “It’s a tsunami. How are we trying to build capacity?” the high court asked the state and federal governments in response to this plea.
‘Virus is swallowing our city’s people like a monster’
Burial grounds in the Indian capital New Delhi are running out of space and bright, glowing funeral pyres light up the night sky in other badly hit cities.
In central Bhopal city, some crematoriums have increased their capacity from dozens of pyres to more than 50. Yet, officials say, there are still hours-long waits.
At the city’s Bhadbhada Vishram Ghat crematorium, workers said they cremated more than 110 people on Saturday, even as government figures in the entire city of 1.8 million put the total number of deaths at just 10.
“The virus is swallowing our city’s people like a monster,” said Mamtesh Sharma, an official at the site.
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 09:18
Modi: India shaken by Covid ‘storm’
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged all citizens to take Covid-19 vaccines and exercise caution, saying a “storm” of infections had shaken the country.
“Our spirits were high after successfully dealing with the first wave,” Mr Modi said in a radio address. “But this storm has shaken the nation.”
The PM is facing mounting criticism for allowing Hindu festivals and attending mammoth election rallies that experts suspect accelerated the spread of infections.
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 09:00
Twitter bows to India’s demand to remove critical Covid tweets
On Saturday, Twitter complied with a government request to prevent people in India from viewing more than 50 tweets that appeared to criticise the Modi administration’s handling of the pandemic, Reuters reports.
The targeted posts include tweets from opposition ministers critical of the prime minister, journalists and ordinary Indians.
A Twitter spokesperson said it had powers to “withhold access to the content in India only” if the company determined the content to be “illegal in a particular jurisdiction.”
The company said it had responded to an order by the government and notified people whose tweets were withheld.
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 08:39
India’s Covid crisis in pictures
Health workers carry bodies of people who were suffering from the coronavirus disease outside the Guru Teg Bahadur hospital, in New Delhi
(Reuters)
Drone footage captures mass crematorium in New Delhi
(Reuters)
People wait to cremate victims in New Dehli
(Reuters)
Health workers carry a patient after a fire in Vijay Vallabh hospital at Virar, near Mumbai
(AP)
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 08:33
US to deploy ‘rapid support’ to India
The US will deploy “rapid support” to India to help with its deadly second wave, secretary of state Anthony Blinken has said.
President Biden previously said America would provide assistance although it remains unclear exactly what that help will entail.
In a tweet last night, Mr Blinken said: “Our hearts go out to the Indian people in the midst of the horrific COVID-19 outbreak.
“We are working closely with our partners in the Indian government, and we will rapidly deploy additional support to the people of India and India’s health care heroes.”
UK prime minister Boris Johnson has also pledged to provide assistance, saying ventilators and drugs could be sent to India.
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 08:19
Patients suffocating from lack of oxygen as hospitals turn people away
Scenes of devastation continue in India, where the world’s highest ever daily spike in new coronavirus infections was recorded for a third consecutive day, and hospitals fielding growing queues of desperate patients begged for the luxury of oxygen amid an all-out government push to provide it.
My colleague Andy Gregory has a round-up of yesterday’s main developments in India:
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 07:45
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s rolling Covid-19 coverage
Matt Mathers25 April 2021 07:43
