In the last 24 hours, India reported 4,03,738 new Covid cases and 4,092 deaths, bringing the total case count to 2.22 crore. For the fifth time in a week, the country saw over 4 lakh regular illnesses and over 4,000 deaths.
Following the global attention drawn to distress posts on social media in recent weeks, the Supreme Court has created a 12-member National Task Force to determine the availability and delivery of medicinal oxygen. “We anticipate that leading experts in the country will join the Task Force as stakeholders and resource persons,” the court said in its final order.
As India battles a lethal second surge, the drug regulator DCGI has approved an anti-Covid drug created by the DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organization) for emergency use. Clinical trial findings indicate that a molecule in the medication aids in the quicker rehabilitation of hospitalized patients and decreases their reliance on supplementary oxygen.
The government announced on Saturday that it has changed the national policy for admitting Covid patients, assuring hospitals that “no patient can be rejected on any grounds.” A coronavirus test report is no longer needed for admission to the hospital. Hospitals are not allowed to reject patients from other cities.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Chief Ministers of four states – Maharashtra’s Uddhav Thackeray, Tamil Nadu’s MK Stalin, Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Himachal Pradesh’s Jairam Thakur – on Saturday to address the Covid situation. Maharashtra has the largest average caseload in the world.
In an interview with the news agency AFP, World Health Organization chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that the B.1.617 version of COVID-19, which was first observed in October, was obviously a contributing factor to the terrifying Covid wave.
A significant number of states have declared lockdowns, as opposition parties call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare national restrictions. Tamil Nadu and Puducherry declared curbs on Saturday. Many other states, including Kerala, Bihar, and Karnataka, have also imposed stringent restrictions to halt the transmission of the virus.
According to news agencies, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Saturday that over 9 lakh patients are on oxygen support. One of the most pressing issues confronting India in the battle against the second Covid wave is a lack of medical oxygen.
