Coronavirus in India April 10 highlights: India records new-high of 1,45,384 cases; Maharashtra enters weekend lockdown

With a record 1,45,384 fresh cases, India’s Covid-19 tally has climbed to 1,32,05,926, the health ministry said on Saturday.

The number of active cases has breached the 10-lakh mark again after around six-and-a-half months, while the death toll due to the viral disease has gone up to 1,68,436 with 794 more fatalities, the highest since October 18 last year, the ministry’s data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase for the 31st day in a row, the number of active coronavirus cases in the country has gone up to 10,46,631, accounting for 7.93 per cent of its total caseload, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 90.80 per cent.

The active caseload was at its lowest at 1,35,926 on February 12, accounting for only 1.25 per cent of the total number of cases in the country.

The 794 fresh fatalities include 301 from Maharashtra, 91 from Chhattisgarh, 56 from Punjab, 46 from Karnataka, 42 from Gujarat, 39 from Delhi, 36 from Uttar Pradesh, 32 from Rajasthan, 23 each from Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, 22 from Kerala, 17 from Jharkhand and 11 each from Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.

Maharashtra on Friday night entered into a weekend lockdown imposed to curb the spike in Covid-19 cases. Two senior government ministers on Friday spoke of the possibility of an extended lockdown in view of the stretched healthcare system in the state.

Mumbai wears a deserted look on Friday night as the state entered a weekend lockdown.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope said Maharashtra seemed headed towards a lockdown; Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar said the time for such a step was already here.

“I am not in favour of a total lockdown but the state seems to be heading in that direction. If cases continue to rise and we exhaust our beds we will have no option but to implement a lockdown,” Tope said.

3-month production dip behind Remdesivir supply chain issues

Manufacturers of Remdesivir said a lull in demand from December to February led to low or zero production of the anti-viral drug for three months, which subsequently affected its supply chain. The manufacturers said they did not anticipate such a sudden surge, and that it would take at least 10 days to overcome the shortage.

Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have reported a shortage of Remdesivir as Covid-19 cases surge. India has been reporting over a lakh fresh cases for the past couple of days. The number of active infections has reached close to 10 lakh, half of which are in Maharashtra that requires 40,000-50,000 vials of Remdesivir, up from 30,000 vials per day during first the “peak” last year.

Meanwhile, on Saturday morning, relatives of Covid-19 patients gheraoed the chemists at Poona Hospital Medical Store after they failed to procure the Remdesivir injections despite procuring tokens in advance. For the last four days, there has been a shortage of the Remdesivir in the city which is seeing the highest ever coronavirus infections for last few days and record number of hospitalizations.