On the 21st of April, India reported the highest single day spike, close to 3 lakh cases of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19. The Union Health Ministry confirmed a total of 2,95,041 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. In addition to the new cases, the Nation reported 2,023 deaths, the highest number of single day deaths due to COVID-19 and 1,67,457 recoveries from COVID-19.
With this, the total number of positive cases of the Country stand at 15,616,130, of which 21,57,538 are active cases, 1,82,533 deceased cases and 1,56,16,130 recoveries.
The updated data is available on the official website of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW.)
This is the third consecutive day when India’s COVID-19 cases crossed 2.50 lakh cases everyday. On the 19th of April, there were 2.61 lakh cases, followed by 2.73 lakh cases on the 20th of April. On the third day, 21st of April, the number increased by approximately 20,000 taking the single day rise to 2.95 lakh cases. The number of cases came after the Indian Council of Medical Research tested 16.39 lakh samples on Tuesday, taking the overall tally to 27.10 crore samples being tested for COVID-19 till date.
The new hit record of 3 lakh cases of COVID-19 in India came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Nation.
At 8:45 P.M., of the 20th of April, the Prime Minister of India, addressed Indian citizens and alerted them about the second wave of the pandemic. In his speech, PM Modi asked Indians to be patient, courage, determination and preparation for the second wave, which already started in India. Advising states and UTs to avoid lockdown, Mr. Narendra Modi said, “We have to concentrate on micro containment zones and have to try our best to avoid lockdown.
Meanwhile, with the rising number of cases, lack of oxygen, medicines and other requirements to control the COVID-19 wave, the nation is struggling to cope with the second wave. States and union territories like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal are top states and UT, with the highest number of everyday spikes and contribute 70 % of the regular cases of COVID-19 in India. To control the situation, Delhi has already imposed a six day lockdown from the 20th of April, Maharashtra is mulling over to impose 15 days strict lockdown, Telangana imposed night curfew, Karnataka and Kerala also imposed night curfew, Rajasthan is having strict lockdown, Jharkhand also announced six days lockdown and Uttar Pradesh also imposed weekend lockdown and night curfew.
Several states are even struggling to meet the demand for oxygen, which is a key element in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients.
Addressing the scarcity of oxygen issue, PM Modi in his speech said, “Efforts to increase oxygen production and supply are on at various levels. Measures like installing new oxygen plants, providing one lakh new cylinders, diverting oxygen from the industrial use, Oxygen Rail are being undertaken.”
In addition, the Central Government has also waived import duty on Remdesivir, a key antiviral drug used for COVID-19 patients, and its raw materials for over six months. The decision was taken to encourage domestic pharmaceutical companies to ramp up their production and reduce its cost amidst the rising demand.
Stay tuned for further updates.
