Wave 2 continues to advance in India: nearly 4,000 COVID-19 deaths and 412,000 new infections in 24 hours

India released new coronavirus infections record on Thursday with 412,262 cases in the past 24 hourss, in addition to the highest number of deaths recorded in the country to date, amid a second wave of the pandemic that has caused oxygen and bed shortages.

With the latest infections, the Asian country has crossed the barrier of 21 million cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Indian Ministry of Health. Some experts believe that these official figures are well below reality.

This new record broke a multi-day string of cases of decline. After a peak of 402,000 daily contaminations last Friday, the following days there was a slight drop to 357,000 before rising again on Tuesday..

The sharp increase in the number of cases since the end of March has engulfed hospitals facing a shortage of beds, medicine and oxygen.

Narendra Modi’s government refuses to order a general lockdownBut several regions, including New Delhi, the capital, Bihar and Maharashtra, have chosen to confine the population.

Experts believe that the worst is yet to come and that the epidemic peak will only be reached in a few weeks.

“A third episode is inevitable given the high levels of contamination“Current,” warned K. Vijay Raghavan, chief scientific adviser to the Indian government.

But it’s unclear when exactly this third episode will occur. We have to prepare for new waves, ”he said at a press conference.

The government is increasingly criticized for the dire situation in the health sector with patients suffering from respiratory distress dying at the gates of saturated hospitals, with shortages of oxygen and essential medical supplies.

The Asian country is the second most affected in the world by the pandemic in absolute terms, only behind the United States with 32.5 million cases according to Johns Hopkins University, and is mired in a dizzying second wave of the coronavirus that has put its healthcare system to the limit, with oxygen shortages and beds in cities like New Delhi.

The vaccination program, recently opened to the entire population over 18, is considered the best way to fight the virus even if the inoculation rate is far from expected due to the lack of vaccines .

The country administered 1.9 million doses in the past 24 hours, an increase from the figures of the last few days but still small compared to the nearly three and a half million vaccines that were administered weeks ago.

The Indian government yesterday acknowledged for the first time that the dramatic increase in cases over the past month and a half in many states across the country shows a “correlation” with the greater presence of the Indian “double mutant” B variant. 1.617, although it is not yet known, you can establish a “direct link”.

The increase in cases has also been attributed in the country to a relaxation of measures against the coronavirus by the population and the organization of mass events, such as huge electoral rallies in the context of several regional elections or the religious festival Kumbh Mela., the largest and one of the oldest religious congregations in the world.

In the last 10 days, India has received emergency medical assistance, including oxygen generators and respirators, mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

they have arrived in the last ten days, notably from the United States, Great Britain, France and other European countries.

With information from EFE

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