Coronavirus in India Live News: Second wave has put India’s healthcare system under pressure, says PM Modi

Covid-19 India Live Update, Coronavirus Cases and Deaths in India Live Coverage: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the Covid-19 situation in his constituency Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and will speak to doctors, paramedical staff, and other frontline healthcare workers through video conferencing at 11 am today. He is expected to discuss efforts to tackle the second wave of Coronavirus. Yesterday he spoke to chief ministers, DMs, and field officials of 10 states regarding the prevailing Covid-19 situation and vaccination. He cautioned states not to waste vaccines, as it is the main weapon in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. He asked DMs to study the spread and severity of Coronavirus infections among children and youth. He said the virus is mutating, we need to change our strategies accordingly. We can’t lower guard.”

Till some days ago, India was reporting over 3 lakh Covid-19 cases per day. The number of Coronavirus infections has dropped massively. For the past 5 days, the country has been reporting below 3 lakh virus infections daily—which is a good a sign, considering at one point (mid-May), India was reporting over 4 lakh cases daily. Overall, the positivity rate has also gone down. As many as 303 districts have witnessed a drop in positivity rate, compared to 210 districts in the previous week – an indication that the severity of the second wave may be over. However, high deaths and rising cases of black fungus remain a pain point for the government. Due to a sudden spike in black fungus cases, the Centre yesterday made the disease ‘notifiable’.

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India reported 259,591 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, while deaths rose by 4,209, according to data from Union Health Ministry on Friday. The country’s Covid-19 tally stands at 26.03 million, with a death toll at 291,331. The active cases in the country further reduced to 30,27,925 comprising 11.63 per cent of the total infections. The Covid-19 recovery rate also improved to 87.25 per cent.

In a major positive development for India’s fight against Coronavirus, Bharat Biotech yesterday announced that the company will increase its Covid-19 vaccine (Covaxin) production capacity by 17 million doses per month. “The company plans to produce 200 million doses of Covaxin per annum in the GMP facilities that are already functional,” Bharat Biotech said in a statement. In another positive development, the government has approved the first home Covid-19 testing kit. The Indian Council of Medical Research has given its nod to MyLab Discovery Solutions-developed home-based self-use Covid test kit. It will give a major boost India’s testing capacity.

In the meanwhile, several states/UTs are under some kind of restrictions, be it lockdown or curfew, in order to limit the spread of Coronavirus infection. Many states have already extended lockdown/curbs till May end; some are contemplating increasing it further. Tamil Nadu is weighing for an extension of lockdown as cases continue to surge.