India coronavirus infections jump past 100,000
COVID-19 cases in India reached 100,000 on Tuesday (19), matching its number of intensive care beds, and the rate of increase of new infections showed little sign of slowing.
India reported 4,970 new cases over the previous 24 hours, taking its total to 101,139. Deaths rose by 134 to 3,163.
India’s number of cases has easily outstripped that of China, where the virus emerged late last year and which has been one of Asia’s infection hot spots.
China has reported nearly 83,000 cases but has kept its daily rise in new infections to single digits for the past week.
In contrast, new cases in India have risen by an average of more than 4,000 a day over the past week, according to a Reuters tally based on official data, despite a severe weekslong lockdown.
India officially extended the lockdown on Sunday to May 31, although several states indicated they would allow businesses to reopen.
Health experts and officials are worried about the strain the epidemic is placing on India’s over-stretched and under-funded hospital system.
Dhruva Chaudhry, president of the Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine, told last month that India probably had only about 100,000 intensive care unit (ICU) beds and 40,000 ventilators.
Chaudhry warned there was not sufficient infrastructure or staff in the country of 1.35 billion people to handle a sharp spike in the number of critical patients.
While not every coronavirus patient needs an ICU bed, health experts worry about surging cases in India, particularly as many believe the official tally falls short of the reality.
India has not provided a detailed breakdown on the condition of people who have been diagnosed with Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, although authorities have reported that about 37,000 people have recovered.
India’s death rate is less than that of some other big countries, at three per cent, compared with about six per cent for the US, where some 89,000 people have died, and 14 per cent for Britain.
Meanwhile, the doubling time of coronavirus infection in India has improved to 13.6 days in the last three days from 11.5 in the past 14 days, Indian Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday (17) as the country registered a record single-day jump of around 5,000 cases.
The fatality rate is down to 3.1 per cent and the recovery rate has improved to 37.5 per cent, he said.
Substantiating his point that the spread of the infection in the country has been slow, Vardhan said coronavirus cases in India reached the 80,000 mark in 106 days while developed nations such as the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and the US took 44-66 days to reach that mark.
With India entering the fourth phase of the nationwide lockdown from Monday (18), Vardhan said: ‘Our policy, perseverance coupled with aggressive and early measures through a strong leadership have shown encouraging results. While the doubling time in the past 14 days was 11.5, it has improved to 13.6 in the last three days.’
Also as of Saturday (16), 3.1 per cent of the active Covid-19 patients are in the ICU, 0.45 per cent are on ventilators and 2.7 per cent on oxygen support, the minister said.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) announced on Sunday that the ongoing countrywide lockdown has been extended till May 31.
In an order, it said that lockdown measures need to be implemented for a further period of 14 days in the country to contain the spread of Covid-19.
In a tweet, Vardhan said, ‘Because of India’s well-turned strategy in the fight against Covid-19, the nation touched the 80,000-cases mark in 106 days as against 44-66 days taken by countries such as the UK, Italy, Spain, Germany and the US. I truly believe that under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, we will win this war against the pandemic.’
Elaborating on the health infrastructure preparedness, Vardhan said 916 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals with 1,80,473 beds -1,61,169 isolation and 19,304 ICU -- and 2,044 dedicated health centres with 1,28,304 beds (1,17,775 isolation beds and 10,529 ICU beds) along with 9,536 quarantine centres and 6,309 care centres with 5,64,632 beds are now available in the country.
The health minister said that while India sees a gets accustomed to a ‘new normal’, following simple hygiene measures like washing hands with soap frequently or using alcohol-based sanitizers, not spitting in public, sanitizing one’s workplace, using face covers in public places are a must.’
Physical distancing is the most potent social vaccine available to us and hence it is advisable to ensure ‘Do Gaz ki Doori’ (twoyears distance) while interacting with others and to limit social gatherings by opting virtual gatherings,’ he said while people advising to travel only when it is absolutely necessary and not to visit crowded places to limit the exposure to the virus. Due precautions, safe handling of food can help prevent the spread of Covid-19, the minister said.
Highlighting that the daily testing capacity has increased to 1,00,000 tests through 373 government and 152 private laboratories, health minister said.