India reports record deaths as new cases dip
- 19 May 2021
Gulf Today Report
India reported on Wednesday 267,334 new coronavirus infections over the last 24 hours, while the country has set another record for daily COVID-19 fatalities even as infections dipped further.
The Health Ministry on Wednesday reported 4,529 deaths in the last 24 hours, driving the overall toll to 283,248. India also confirmed the daily cases dropped below 300,000 for the third consecutive day. Both numbers are almost certainly undercounts.
Even as India’s overall cases have shown signs of slight decrease, deaths have continued to rise and hospitals are still swamped by patients. Over the last month, India’s COVID-19 fatalities have jumped sixfold.
India’s vaccination drive is also faltering just at the time when it is needed the most. The number of daily vaccine doses has fallen by about half over the last six weeks, from a high of 4 million a day on April 2 to around daily 2 million or fewer this week.
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India has the second-highest caseload after the US with more than 25 million confirmed infections.
The South Asian nation's tally stands at 25.5 million, with a death toll of 283,248, health ministry data showed.
A man tries to escape the heat emitting from the multiple funeral pyres of COVID-19 victims at a crematorium in New Delhi. AP
The resurgence hasn’t come close to the carnage wrought in India and parts of Europe, but it is a keen reminder that the virus remains resilient, despite strict mask mandates, case tracing, mass testing and wider deployment of the newest weapon against it - vaccinations.
That’s setting back efforts to get social and economic life back to normal, particularly in schools and sectors like the hospitality industry that are built on public contact.
