India records over 2.34L Covid cases in a day
PM, Health Min hold review meeting with states
Cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country reached nearly 12 cr on Saturday
NEW DELHI: The country on Saturday recorded a frightening single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with over 2.34 lakh fresh infections, crossing the two lakh-mark for the third straight day, as demands for increased supply of oxygen cylinders, vaccine doses and Remdesivir were raised by 11 states and UTs, including Delhi, where the pandemic situation was described as “worrisome” by the Chief Minister.
As India’s COVID-19 tally inched towards 1.50 crore-mark and the death toll climbed above 1.75 lakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health minister Harsh Vardhan held meetings to review measures taken by states for prevention, containment and management of the recent surge.
In the meeting to review the preparedness of public health response to COVID-19 situation, Modi called for close coordination with states to defeat the virus as also for utilisation of the entire national capacity to ramp up vaccine production. Reiterating that there is no substitute for testing, tracking and treatment, Modi said all necessary measures must be taken to ramp up the availability of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, and also asked local administrations to be proactive, sensitive to people’s concerns.
He also reviewed the status of the supply of Remdesivir and other medicines and called for speeding up the installation of approved medical oxygen plants.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister also appealed that participation in the ongoing Kumbh Mela is kept symbolic in view of the unprecedented surge in the cases.
During the meeting with Vardhan, health ministers of 11 states and Union Territories (UTs) demanded an increased supply of medical-grade oxygen cylinders and Remdesivir in hospitals.
The states, including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, which have been reporting an unprecedented surge in Covid cases, attended the meeting.
Many of them raised the issue of dovetailing the medical oxygen supply lines and capping of prices of essential drugs like Remdesivir which has been sold in the black market at exorbitant prices. Double mutant strain in Maharashtra was a key point of concern. The Delhi government requested additional beds in Central government hospitals as was done in 2020 to help tide over the emergent health crisis, the ministry said in a statement after the meeting.
The notification of the Home Ministry, granting permission to states to utilise up to 50 per cent of their annual allocation of State Disaster Response Fund, and that of the Union Health ministry, allowing utilisation of unspent pending balance under National Health Mission as on April 1, 2021 for Covid management purposes, were reiterated, it said.
According to the Union Health ministry, 10 states — Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan — report 79.32 per cent of the new cases.
Sixteen states and UTs — Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal — are displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases, it said.
The ministry said five states — Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala — cumulatively account for 65.02 per cent of India's total active cases. Maharashtra alone accounts for 38.09 per cent of the total active caseload of the country.
Meanwhile, the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country nearly reached 12 crore on Saturday as part of the world's largest vaccination drive.
The number of active Coronavirus cases in the country has surpassed the 16-lakh mark, according to the ministry.
As India administered 25,65,179 doses of the vaccine till 8 pm on Saturday, the total vaccinations across the country have crossed more than 12.25 crore mark till the 92nd day of the nationwide vaccination drive that began on January 16. As per the Health ministry's provisional data, the cumulative number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country stands at 12,25,02,790. There were 60,057 COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) operational in the country on Saturday.