Following a record spike in coronavirus cases, several states are facing an acute shortage of oxygen. (File Photo)PM Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Saturday on measures to increase oxygen supply and oxygen-related equipment. After the meeting, the Government of India said in a statement that the basic customs duty, health cess on oxygen and oxygen-related equipment wil be waived. The Government statement also said that the basic customs duty on import of COVID vaccines is to be exempted with immediate effect for three months. Centre has taken a lot of measures in last few days to improve medical and oxygen supply, the statement further added.
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India recorded over 3 lakh Covid-19 cases for the third consecutive day. According to the data released by the Union Health Ministry, 3,46,786 new cases and 2,624 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. With this, the total Covid tally of India has reached 1,66,10481. The country has so far reported 1,89,544 deaths.
Following a record spike in coronavirus cases in the past few days, several states are facing an acute shortage of oxygen. Many hospitals were sending SOS as they were struggling with dangerously low levels of oxygen supply, following which the railways decided to run ‘Oxygen Express’ trains to transport liquid medical oxygen and oxygen cylinders across the country. A train with three tankers of liquid medical oxygen reached Uttar Pradesh this morning.
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“Two trucks of medical oxygen arrived in Lucknow around 6.30 am while one truck was offloaded in Varanasi. Each truck has a capacity of containing 15,000 litres of medical oxygen,” Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
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Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting with leading oxygen manufacturers of the country. He also held a meeting with chief ministers of high-burden states. Chief ministers of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, and Kerala, were among those who attended the meeting.
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Highlights
Ahead of opening of the Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre here, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday visited the facility and said it will be restarted with 500 oxygenated beds. He also reviewed the COVID-19 preparedness of the centre. The minister was informed that the capacity of the Sardar Patel COVID Care Centre (SPCCC) will be augmented to 1,000 beds in another week, and thereafter, swiftly to accommodate 1,500 beds and finally to 2,000 beds, the Union health ministry said in a statement. The centre at Chhatarpur in south Delhi is being adequately equipped with medical facilities which include ten dedicated basic care life support ambulances, X-Ray, oxygen cylinders, biphasic defibrillators, pulse oxymeters, suction machines and BiPAP machines along with other medical equipment. (PTI)
India has administered 14 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine in just 99 days, the fastest in the world, the Health Ministry said on Saturday. More than 24 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Saturday till 8 pm, the ministry said. The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 14,08,02,794, according to a provisional report at 8 pm. "India became the fastest country to administer 14 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccine in just 99 days," the ministry said. The beneficiaries include 92,89,621 healthcare workers (HCWs) who have taken the 1st dose and 59,94,401 HCWs who have taken the 2nd dose, 1,19,42,233 frontline workers (FLWs) who have got the first dose, and 62,77,797 FLWs the second dose. As many as 4,76,41,992 people aged between 45-plus and 60 have got the first dose and 23,22,480 in the age group received the second dose. (PTI)
A sero survey by Mumbai's civic body has found that women have more antibodies than men to the fight the coronavirus. It also showed that sero positivity in non-slum areas was increasing, while it was decreasing in slum areas, which matches the current trend that a large number of patients are being detected from the former in the current COVID-19 surge, officials said. Sero positivity entails a blood test showing a positive result for a particular antibody, a civic official explained. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation survey, details of which were revealed on Saturday, showed sero positivity among women was 37.12 per cent as against 35.02 per cent in men. (PTI)
In the third week of April, faced with a worryingly high and rising COVID-19 caseload – staying at over 3 lakh new cases a day, concerns over vaccine and oxygen shortages, the Indian government announced a flurry of measures – from expanding the age group of people eligible to take the vaccine, declaring an intent to release funds to Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech to ramp up their vaccine production capacities, getting Indian railways to run Oxygen Express trains to even tapping the services of the Airforce to reduce travel time in supply of oxygen. Well-meaning measures but then, some experts who have been seeing the trends in the caseload, feel it is rather late in the day with not much clarity on the execution plans. Especially one that can facilitate a transition from a run-with-a-central diktat model to an environment where states have to take greater ownership and responsibility. READ MORE
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Maharashtra on Saturday reported 67,160 new coronavirus cases, slightly more than Friday, while the death figure declined to 676, a health department official said. The death toll reached 63,928 and the caseload rose to 42,28,836. The state on Friday had reported 66,836 cases and 773 fatalities. Out of 676 fatalities, 396 occurred in the last 48 hours and the remaining had occurred last week or before that. 63,818 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the number of recovered cases to 34,68,610. With this, Maharashtra's active cases settled at 6,94,480, the official said. (PTI)
The COVID-19 tally in Nashik rose by 5,918 on Saturday to reach 2,98,319, while the day also saw 46 deaths and 5,034 people getting discharged, an official said. The toll in the district stands at 3,272 and the recovery count is 2,47,343, he added. With 24,369 samples being examined during the day, the number of tests in Nashik went up to 11,15,980, he said. In another development, an 'Oxygen Express' train brought 27.826 metric tons of liquid medical oxygen to Nashik on Saturday, additional district collector Dattaprasad Nade said. (PTI)
Haryana on Saturday recorded 10,491 fresh COVID-19 cases that took the state's total tally to 4,13,334 while 60 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 3,703, a health department bulletin said. Among the districts that reported a big spike in cases are Gurgaon (3,136), Faridabad (1,530), Sonipat (802), Hisar (857) and Karnal (578). Of the latest deaths, eight were reported from Gurgaon, seven each from Faridabad and Ambala, six each from Sonipat and Hisar and five each from Karnal and Bhiwani, according to the bulletin. (PTI)
Gujarat on Saturday recorded 14,097 COVID-19 cases, its highest one-day rise so far, which took the caseload to 4,81,737. The state also reported highest one-day death count of 152, which pushed the overall death toll to 6,171, a health department official said. At least 6,479 patients were discharged from hospitals during the day, raising the count of recoveries to 3,67,972, he added. With this, the state's recovery rate stands at 76.38 per cent. There are 1,07,594 active cases in the state, 396 of them in a critical condition. (PTI)
Terming India's COVID-19 vaccine pricing as complicated and politicised, former chief economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on Saturday said the Centre and not states should bear the full cost of vaccines. On April 19, the Centre announced that all above 18 years of age will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccination from May 1 while private hospitals and states will be able to buy doses from manufacturers. "India's vaccine pricing being complicated/politicized. ... Govt. should pay manufacturers reasonable price. This is not the time for haggling and creating uncertainty for private sector, domestic or foreign," he said in a series of tweets. Serum Institute of India (SII) earlier this week announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for its COVID-19 vaccine Covishield for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals. This is compared to Rs 150 per dose it charges the central government for the existing supplies. "There should be only ONE price for vaccine jabs all over India. That price should be ZERO. So, vaccines should be free for all.Differentiation and complexity are unethical, unnecessary, and difficult to implement," Subramanian said. "Free vaccines for all will avoid vaccine politicization. The Centre-NOT states-should bear full fiscal "costs" of vaccines," he added. (PTI)
Punjab reports 5724 new COVID19 cases, 92 fatalities and 2949 discharges in the last 24 hours; case tally at 3,32,110 (ANI)
In a bid to tackle the coronavirus situation, the Haryana government on Saturday banned the gathering of over five people and ordered the implementation of the "work from home" system in offices in its worst-hit six districts. Deputy commissioners of Gurgaon , Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Sonipat and Rohtak have been asked to impose Section 144 of the CrPZC to control the COVID surge, CM Manohat Lal Khattar told reporters after chairing a meeting over the issue. He, however, ruled out the imposition of a lockdown in the state but said there will be "lockdown-like conditions" in place in the worst-hit six districts. Government and private offices won't be allowed to open to avoid crowding, he said, asking employees to adopt the "work from home culture" to break the chain of the coronavirus infection. (PTI)
Chief Justice of India Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana Saturday swung into action after taking oath as head of the judiciary and held consultation with six senior judges of the Supreme Court to review functioning in view of present COVID-19 situation. The 48th CJI, after being administered oath by President Ram Nath Kovind in a brief function here, went to the Supreme Court premises on a Saturday, a court holiday, and held meeting to discuss apex court's functioning in view of resurgence of pandemic, sources told PTI. Besides the CJI, justices R F Nariman, U U Lalit, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and L Nageswara Rao took part in the meeting. The seven senior judges would meet again, they said. (PTI)
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Highest single-day spike of 14,281 COVID cases takes Bengal's tally to 7,28,061: Health Department (PTI)
As Kerala's COVID-19 graph continued its surge with over 26,000 fresh cases on Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation was grim, and likened it to a volcano which can erupt any moment. "We are sitting on a volcano which can explode any moment. People should understand the situation and take adequate precautions to protect themselves," Vijayan told reporters. The disease, which has claimed 5,080 lives in the state, will spread faster than expected and cases are likely to be much more than the surge capacity of the state's medical sector, he said. Kerala's active cases soared to 1.98 lakh on Saturday as the state reported 26,685 fresh cases, pushing the COVID-19 caseload to 13.77 lakh. (PTI)
Maharashtra minister for higher and technical education Uday Samant on Saturday met Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari to apprise him of the decision to conduct online examinations in 13 state-run universities amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Speaking to reporters, Samant said the governor had given his approval to the decision, adding that the procedures to assess the answer sheet, as well as declaration of results, were also discussed during the meeting. (PTI)
As many as 1,540 persons tested positive for COVID-19, while 17 succumbed to the infection in Goa on Saturday, an official from the health department said. With the addition of latest cases and casualties, the coastal state's tally rose to 75,184 and the toll reached 993, the official said. At least 485 patients were discharged during the day, taking the count of recoveries to 62,113, leaving the state with 12,078 active cases, he said. (PTI)
Tamil Nadu records 14,842 new COVID-19 cases, 9,142 recoveries and 80 deaths in the last 24 hours; active cases at 1,00,668 (ANI)
67,160 new COVID-19 cases, 63,818 discharges and 676 deaths were reported in Maharashtra in the last 24 hoursActive cases: 6,94,480Death toll: 63928Total cases: 42,28,836Total recoveries: 34,68,610 (ANI)
Nepal's former King Gyanendra Shah and Queen Komal Shah on Saturday have been admitted to a hospital in Kathmandu for treatment of coronavirus, days after they were tested positive for the viral infection on their return from India after participating in the Maha Kumbh at Haridwar. The 73-year-old former King and 70-year-old former Queen were diagnosed with the disease on April 20. The former royal couple and their daughter Prerana Singh have been admitted to the Norvic International Hospital for treatment of COVID-19, the hospital officials said. Shah's aide and former press secretary of the Narayanhiti palace, Faniraj Pathak, also confirmed that the former monarch has been admitted to the hospital. "They (the couple and their daughter) don't have any health complications and their condition is stable for now," said Somnath Bastola, the chief of the hospital's Communications and Public Relations Department. (PTI)
The Delhi government-run Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital on Saturday reduced the number of COVID beds from 986 to 700 amid a deepening crisis over the scarcity of oxygen vital to save critically ill coronavirus patients. This is the second government hospital in Delhi to have reduced the number of COVID beds, as health facilities across the national capital struggle for a continuous oxygen supply. According to data available on the Delhi government's "Delhi Corona" application, there are 700 COVID beds in the hospital located at Shahdara. Of these, 400 are ICU beds. On Friday, the city government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital had reduced the number of COVID beds from 650 to 350 due to shortage of oxygen. All 350 beds at the hospital are ICU beds. Asked if "not enough oxygen" was the reason to reduce the number of beds, RGSSH Medical Director B L Sherwal had replied, "Yes." An official said it is becoming increasingly difficult to "operationalise more beds in view of oxygen shortage". (PTI)
Congress president Sonia Gandhi asked the Rae Bareli district magistrate (DM) on Saturday to utilise the remaining amount of her MPLADS funds for the welfare of the COVID-hit people of her parliamentary constituency. She said as informed by officials, an amount of more than Rs 1.17 crore is pending in her MPLADS (Member of Parliaments Local Area Development Scheme) fund. "Currently, the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the country, due to which a large number of people have been affected and are facing a lot of difficulties. "Hence, the above said remaining amount in my MPLADS fund may be spent on the safety and welfare of people in my constituency, Rae Bareli, and in buying other equipment required in the fight against COVID-19," Gandhi wrote in her letter to the DM. (PTI)
Amid a rise in the demand of liquid medical oxygen due to the surge in coronavirus cases, Palghar district in Maharashtra will get three generation plants to tide over the problem, a senior official said on Saturday. Collector Manik Gursal said the oxygen generation plants, each with a capacity to fill 125 jumbo 10-kg cylinders daily, will be set up in Jawhar, Palghar and Dahanu. A sum of Rs 3.20 crore has been approved for the three plants, he added. (PTI)
Mumbai reports 5,888 new COVID19 cases, 71 deaths and 8,549 in the last 24 hours; case tally at 6,22,109 (ANI)
A record single-day rise of 5,084 fresh coronavirus cases and 81 fatalities in Uttarakhand pushed the infection tally to 1,47,433 and the death toll to 2,102, the state COVID control room in Dehradun said. These are the highest fatalities and cases reported in Uttarakhand in a day ever since the outbreak of the pandemic in the state last year. Dehradun district recorded the highest number of 1,736 COVID-19 cases, Haridwar 958, Nainital 592, Udham Singh Nagar 378, Champawat 321, Pauri 301, Uttarkashi 215, Tehri 190, Pithoragarh 123, Almora 117, Chamoli 90, Rudraprayag 53, and Bageshwar 10, it said. (PTI)
Congress Lok Sabha MP V Vaithlingam on Saturday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for immediate consignment of 10,000 doses of Remdesivir injections to the Union Territory to combat the spike in COVID-19 cases. In a letter to Modi, a copy of which was made available to mediapersons, he brought to his notice, the 'alarming situation' due to the rise in cases and said all hospitals in Puducherry have run out of the Oxygen beds. He also alleged that Puducherry had been left out in allocation of Remdesivir by the Union Health Ministry, which had given the anti-viral drug to other states. (PTI)
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding uninterrupted oxygen supply and a free and universal COVID-19 vaccination programme, days after he lost his son to the disease. He also recommended the cancellation of Central Vista project and release of money collected under PM-CARES fund for the supply of oxygen and COVID-19 vaccine. "I am writing to you in great pain, distress and anguish. This unprecedented health and humanitarian crisis created by the second wave of COVID-19, is turning into a 'tsunami'. The situation has been aggravated by the approach and attitude of the Union government," Yechury said. "I am writing to you on an URGENT basis to ensure two things on utmost priority: ensure uninterrupted supply of medical oxygen to all hospitals and patients across the country by procuring it at any cost; and provide vaccines to all the state governments for a free and universal vaccination programme, bringing production of Indian vaccines under emergency provisions and importing from all available sources to prevent more deaths," he said. The Left leader also suggested budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crore for the vaccination programme. (PTI)
The Congress highlighted a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines in the country on Saturday with party leader Rahul Gandhi asking the Centre to focus on the issue, instead of "spending on PR and unnecessary projects". Pointing out that only 1.4 per cent of the country's population has been vaccinated so far, Gandhi, in a tweet, said "India needs vaccines" and shared a graph showing that the US has vaccinated 26.5 per cent of its population and the UK 15.9 per cent. In another tweet, he asked the Centre to focus on vaccines, oxygen and other health services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of "spending on PR and unnecessary projects". "This crisis will deepen in the coming days. The country has to be prepared to deal with this. The current plight is unbearable!" the former Congress chief said. Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram also pointed toward the shortage of vaccines and warned the government of more protests if people were turned away by hospitals. He welcomed the decision to vaccinate all citizens above the age of 18 years from May 1. "However, we have to caution the government that this decision brings with it huge responsibilities," the former Union minister wrote on Twitter. Another Congress leader Jairam Ramesh raised questions over the differential pricing of vaccines for the Centre and the states. (PTI)
Karnataka reports 29438 new COVID19 cases, 9058 discharges and 208 deaths in the last 24 hoursActive cases: 2,34,483Total cases: 13,04,397Total discharges: 10,55,612Death toll: 14,283 (ANI)
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said his government would not impose a lockdown in the state as it would adversely affect the economy. The state has adequate medical infrastructure to treat the rising number of COVID-19 patients, the chief minister added. "A complete lockdown is not a solution for the prevailing situation. We have seen how the economy crumbled after the lockdown last year. We have managed to revive it over the last year," he said in an address to the people of the coastal state. He said people must stay indoors and cooperate with authorities by adhering to COVID-19 norms so that the outbreak can be contained. (PTI)
The Karnataka government and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Saturday decided to form a task force to jointly fight against COVID-19. The task force would have representatives from the CII and the State Health Department. It would explore ways to quickly augment medical and non-medical infrastructure, including a massive call centre and modular ICU units, to manage the virus more effectively. The representatives of CII had a video conference with Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar and other senior officials of the Health Department today. (PTI)
Gujarat reports 14,097 new COVID-19 cases, 6,479 discharges and 152 deaths in the last 24 hoursTotal cases: 4,81,737Active cases: 1,07,594Total recoveries: 3,67,972Death toll: 6,171 (ANI)
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Maharashtra: Nagpur district reported 82 deaths, 7,999 new COVID-19 cases, 6,264 recoveries in the last 24 hoursTotal cases: 3,66,417Total recoveries: 2,84,566Active cases: 75,002Death toll: 6,849 (ANI)
Bihar reports 12,359 new COVID19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the count for active cases to 81,960 (ANI)
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Third Oxygen Express also started its journey from Lucknow today and more trains are in the pipeline. Green Corridors are helping in fast movement of Oxygen Express: Ministry of Railways (ANI)
Oxygen Expresses deliver nearly 150 tonnes of oxygen in last 24 hours. Expresses arrived at Nashik & Lucknow with Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) for Maharashtra & UP respectively. Containers unloaded at Nagpur & Varanasi en route to supply LMO in these regions: Ministry of Railways (ANI)
The Syrian government received the first batch of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines on Saturday, a gift of 150,000 jabs to Damascus, Syrian and Chinese officials said. The Chinese vaccines arrived in Damascus airport where they were received by Syria's Health Minister Hassan Ghabbash and China's ambassador to Damascus. The Chinese batch comes a few days after more than 200,000 jabs were delivered to Syria through the United Nations-led platform which provides vaccines to the needy. The new jabs are likely to speed up the inoculation campaign in the war-torn country where a battered health sector has been overwhelmed by the pandemic, and where infections have been on the rise. Syria was the last country in the Middle East and North Africa to receive the UN-supported jabs, the first batch arriving this week. UN officials say the quantities are limited and have appealed for more funding and vaccines to help stem the spread of the virus in the country reeling from years of conflict and growing economic hardships. (AP)