India reported 3.79 lakh new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, its sharpest spike since the pandemic first gripped the country last year. With this the total caseload rose to 1.8 crore. Meanwhile, with 3,645 deaths, the death toll surged to 2.04 lakh.

Nearly 1.33 crore people registered on the Co-Win platform for the next phase of the nationwide coronavirus vaccination drive, which will cover all adults between the ages of 18 and 45. However, with several states flagging an acute shortage of vaccines, the government is faced with a daunting task. Huge pressure is expected since many young men and women will seek vaccination and want to get back to work at the earliest.

Meanwhile, in the national capital, currently Ground Zero of the second wave, there appears to be a discrepancy between the number of people laid to rest and that put on paper as the official Covid-19 death toll. In the last 10 days, 3,094 Covid deaths were reported. An almost equal number, 3,909, died suspected to have had Covid.

As hospitals across the country grapple with an influx of critically ill Covid-19 patients, the demand for medical oxygen has increased by 67 per cent in the last nine days, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The demand has spread from 12 states on April 15 to 22 states on April 24.

In other news, the United States is set to send over $100 million worth of supplies to India to support the nation in its battle against a debilitating second surge of the coronavirus pandemic, the White House said in astatement on Wednesday. The supplies will include 1,000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests, the statement said.

Source: The Indian Express

BDST: 1228 HRS, APR 29, 2021
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