India faces grim battle as daily virus cases top 200,000

Hospitals run out of beds, oxygen amid surging infection rates

Indian health officials admitted on Thursday that the coronavirus outbreak had taken an unexpected turn with new infections doubling since last week, surging to a daily record of more than 200,000 and overwhelming medical facilities.

Official reports showed 200,739 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday with 1,038 coronavirus-related deaths. Over 14.1 million Indians have contracted the virus since the beginning of the outbreak last year and 173,123 have died as a result. “We can’t predict what’s going to happen and how the situation will unfold,” Dr. Rajni Kant, of the Indian Council of Medical Research, the government’s apex medical body, told Arab News. “We don’t know what is the peak and when is the peak,” Kant said, adding that crowding has played a “significant role in spreading the virus.”

A surge in COVID-19 cases in New Delhi from 1,000 in early April to over 17,000 has prompted authorities to impose a weekend lockdown in the capital, with only essential services allowed.

“These restrictions are for your sake. It will be inconvenient, but it is necessary to break the chain of transmission,” New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a

press conference on Thursday. As medical facilities are overwhelmed by the rapid rise in infections, the capital city’s administration has converted 23 hotels and banquet halls into temporary hospitals. Crematoriums in the city are also struggling with a sharp rise in coronavirus deaths.

“We are now receiving more COVID-19-affected bodies than before and in the last week the sudden surge has burdened us,” Ram Pal Mishra, of Dayanand Muktidham Cremation Ground and Electric Crematorium in New Delhi, told Arab News.

The situation in neighboring Uttar Pradesh is also grim, with India’s largest state on Thursday becoming the second worst performer in the country with over 20,000 cases, after the state of Maharashtra, which makes up a quarter of India’s coronavirus tally. The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday announced an 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. night curfew.

“The situation in the state is critical, but we are trying to manage,” Communicable Disease Department Director Dr. Ashok Kumar Paliwal said.