Shocking wave of coronavirus infections in India: there were over 200 thousand cases in one day

India broke the barrier of 200,000 daily COVID-19 cases for the first time on Thursday. This new peak of infections in this second wave is breaking previous records in the Asian country day after day. Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign is progressing as the only apparent way out of this crisis.

Specifically, 200,739 new infections have been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total since the start of the pandemic to 14 million, which makes India the second most affected country behind the United States, which has 31 million infections.

It also passed 1,000 dead on the last day, with 1,038 dead in the past 24 hours, leaving scenes of overcrowded morgues and corpses outside hospitals. Cremation spaces continue to be overcrowded in a country that already has 173,123 have died since the start of the pandemic.

The Ministry of Health reported in a statement today that for “Avoid panic” on the availability of oxygen in health centers to treat patients with coronavirus, several measures have been taken that will guarantee its supply throughout the country. Among these measures, he announced that the oxygen production capacity had been increased to 100%, in addition to using steel mill reserves, or facilitating transport between the least affected regions and those with the most. need.

Some regions such as western Maharashtra, the most affected of all, have imposed severe restrictions, close to total confinement, allowing only the movement of certain professional groups considered to be fundamental.

TESTS AND VACCINES

Authorities continue to stress that one of the keys to trying to control this second wave, which sprang from the hope of less than 9,000 cases per day in February, is increase testing to detect and isolate infected people.

So far India has made 262 million tests since the start of the pandemic, 1.4 million on the last day, which is insufficient in cities like New Delhi, where private centers that performed home tests in less than 24 hours less than a month ago, now have waiting lists of up to four days. .

The only long-term way out of this health crisis, the world’s largest vaccination campaign has been implemented, with more than 114 million doses administered since its launch in January, of which 3.3 million were delivered on the last day.

So far India only manufactures and uses two antidotes for covid: Covishield, the Anglo-Swedish AstraZeneca laboratory and the University of Oxford, produced through an agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII); and the Indigenous Covaxin, from the Indian laboratory Bharat Biotech.

To these two Russian vaccine Sputnik V will be added, which this week gained approval for its emergency use in India and, in addition to being the first formula that can be imported, will begin to be manufactured in the country through five factories with the goal of producing around 850 million doses per year.

“The government must take urgent measures to increase vaccine manufacturing capacity,” insisted the Indian Scientific Network (AIPSN) in a statement, deeming current resources insufficient.

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