Coronavirus news: Indian hospitals in oxygen SOS plea as 50% of Britons get first vaccine dose
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Your support makes all the difference.Hospitals in India were near “total collapse” as the country’s Covid-19 crisis spiralled further out of control amid a second wave of the killer disease, doctors are warning.
Record numbers of new cases put extreme pressure on hospital beds while oxygen supplies ran dangerously low across vast swathes of the country.
A number of medical centers issued desperate SOS pleas on social media, calling for oxygen container replacements. In Delhi, four hospitals were shut down earlier this week after supplies were exhausted.
The Supreme Court described the Covid-19 crisis as a “national emergency” and demanded the government to bring forward a plan to help stem rising cases and deaths.
On Saturday, health officials reported 346,786 new cases in the previous 24 hours, setting a world record for the third consecutive day, official figures show. Some 2,264 people died after contracting the infection, up from 2,263 on the day before.
Elsewhere, over half of the UK’s total population had received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to official figures. The UK first dose total stood at 33,496,293 after NHS England confirmed a further 107,656 jabs were administered as of 23 April.
Pakistan on Saturday reported its highest Covid-19 death toll in a single day
Authorities reported 157 deaths, bringing the overall fatalities to 16,999.
A total of 5,908 additional cases pushed the toll to 790,016, as authorities complain of routine violations of social distancing and mask-wearing rules.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced that military troops will be called to help police enforce the restrictions in public places.
Authorities also decided to keep educational institutions closed until the situation improved.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a talk show Saturday that despite the increasing cases and deaths, Pakistan’s situation was better than in neighboring India.
He said a planeload of 500,000 doses of China’s Sinovac vaccines arrived on Friday.
AP
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Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s rolling Covid-19 coverage.
India’s healthcare system reels as Covid ravages country
Closed hospitals, patients told to go elsewhere, people dying as they wait for treatment. India’s healthcare system has crumbled under the strain of a second wave.
My colleague Shweta Sharmain reports from Delhi:
‘This is a total collapse’: India’s healthcare system reels as Covid ravages country
Closed hospitals, patients told to go elsewhere, people dying as they wait for treatment. India’s healthcare system has crumbled under the strain of a second wave, reports Shweta Sharma in Delhi
Japan declares state of emergency in Tokyo just months before Olympics
Japan has declared a third state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas amid a coronavirus resurgence just three months ahead of the Olympics.
My colleague Chiara Giordano has the details:
Japan declares state of emergency in Tokyo just months before Olympics
Tokyo 2020 president insists Games will not be cancelled despite surging Covid cases
Restrictions on outdoor gatherings eased in Wales
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Six people from six households are allowed to gather outside from Saturday.
The total does not include children under 11 or carers from those households.
PA
Patients are coming in with their own oxygen, doctor says
Some Covid-19 patients in India are arriving at emergency rooms with their own oxygen supplies amind a supply crisis in hospitals, a doctor has said.
Dr Atul Gogia, a consultant at the Sir Ganga Ram hospital in Delhi, said hospitals are rapidly filling up amid a surge in cases.
He told the BBC: “We do not have that many oxygen points. Whatever oxygen points are there, they’re full.
“Patients are coming in with their own oxygen cylinders or without oxygen. We want to help them but there are not enough beds and not enough oxygen points even to supply them oxygen if it is there.”
Indian hospital provider issues SOS alarm over oxygen supplies
A major healthcare provider in India has raised an SOS alarm over oxygen supplies.
Max Healthcare has a network of 12 hospitals and five medical facilities in north and west India.
It says it has less than two hour’s worth of oxygen supply left.
‘We need powerful measures’ to reduce spread — Japan minister
Announcing a state of emergency over rising Covid cases, the minister in charge of Japan’s pandemic response said “powerful measures” are needed to reduce transmission of the disease.
Yasutoshi Nishimura added: “We absolutely have to limit the movement of people, and we have to do it decisively.”
Japan has declared a third state of emergency in Tokyo and three other areas amid a coronavirus resurgence just three months ahead of the Olympics.
Under the measures, restaurants, bars and karaoke parlours serving alcohol will be forced to close, as will shopping centres, department stores, theme parks, theatres and museums, while big sporting events will be held without spectators.
Restaurants that do not serve alcohol and public transportation services will be asked to close early.
Schools will stay open, but universities will be advised to return to online classes.
Pakistan on Saturday reported its highest COVID-19 death toll in a single day
Authorities reported 157 deaths, bringing the overall fatalities to 16,999.
A total of 5,908 additional cases pushed the toll to 790,016, as authorities complain of routine violations of social distancing and mask-wearing rules.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday announced that military troops will be called to help police enforce the restrictions in public places.
Authorities also decided to keep educational institutions closed until the situation improved.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in a talk show Saturday that despite the increasing cases and deaths, Pakistan’s situation was better than in neighboring India.
He said a planeload of 500,000 doses of China’s Sinovac vaccines arrived on Friday.
India is a ‘devastating reminder' of what virus can do, WHO chief warns
India’s second Covid-19 wave is a “devastating reminder” of what the virus can do, the World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned.
Local media reported on Saturday that 20 patients died overnight due to a lack of oxygen supply in the critical care unit of Jaipur Golden hospital in Rohini, Delhi.
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