India reports global daily record of 314,000 new Covid-19 cases
India reported a global record of more than 314,000 new infections yesterday as a grim coronavirus surge in the world’s second-most populous country sends more and more sick people into a fragile healthcare system critically short of hospital beds and oxygen.
The 314,000 infections added in the past 24 hours raise India’s total past 15.9 million cases since the pandemic began. It’s second to the United States. India has nearly 1.4 billion people.
Fatalities rose by 2104 in the past 24 hours, raising India’s overall death toll to 184,657, the Health Ministry said.
A large number of hospitals are reporting acute shortages of beds and medicine and are running on danger
ously low levels of oxygen.
The New Delhi High Court yesterday ordered the government to divert oxygen from industrial use to hospitals to save people’s lives.
“Beg, borrow or steal, it is a national emergency,” the judges said responding to a petition by a New Delhi hospital seeking its intervention.
The government is rushing oxygen tankers to replenish supplies to hospitals.
The Health Ministry said that of the country’s total production of 7500 tonnes of oxygen a day, 6600 tonnes were being allocated for medical use.
It also said that 75 railroad coaches in the Indian capital have been turned into hospitals providing an additional beds 1200 for Covid-19 patients.
The Times of India newspaper says the previous highest daily case count of 307,581 was reported in the US on January 8.