The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections in India fell to 3.29 lakh after 14 days taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,29,92,517, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.
A total of 3,29,942 infections were reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death count climbed to 2,49,992 with 3,876 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
After registering a steady rise for two months, the active cases have reduced to 37,15,221 comprising 16.16 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 82.75 per cent.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,90,27,304, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.09 per cent, the data stated.
Meanwhile, eleven Covid patients who were in the ICU died at a government hospital in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati on Monday evening after the supply of medical oxygen was disrupted. The deaths have been reported at a time when India is fighting a deadly second Covid wave and shortage of medical oxygen has emerged as a key challenge.
Disturbing visuals captured the chaos inside the wards at SVR Ruia Hospital as medical staff tried to save lives.
Even as families of patients alleged that the oxygen supply was disrupted for about 25-45 minutes, Chittoor District Collector M Hari Narayanan said "there was a five-minute lag in reloading the oxygen cylinder that caused the pressure to drop," which led to the deaths.
Here are the Live Updates on India Coronavirus (Covid-19 Cases) Cases:
The Maharashtra government has decided to use hospitals attached to medical colleges as treatment centres for Mucormycosis, a serious but rare fungal infection now affecting coronavirus patients, said Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday.
Symptoms of Mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision.
He said, "There could be over 2,000 Mucormycosis patients in the state as of now and with more and more COVID-19 cases coming up, their number would increase for sure."
The Centre has taken multiple initiatives to ramp up the oxygen supply across the country, including the airlifting of empty-tankers to reduce the turnaround time and training 500 drivers, a senior Home Ministry official said on Tuesday.
Piyush Goyal, Additional Secretary, Union Home Ministry, also told a press conference In Delhi that 5,805 MT of liquid medical oxygen is being imported from abroad considering the future needs of the country.
Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the Maharashtra government issued guidelines, urging people to celebrate the festival in a simple manner and advised against taking out processions and congregating in view of COVID-19 and the curbs enforced in the state. Ramzan, the holy month of Muslims, began on April 13. Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the culmination of the fasting month, will be celebrated either on May 13 or May 14 depending upon sighting of moon.
The Delhi High Court has expressed its displeasure over the Delhi government making incorrect statement on May 10 that 250 beds in the new dedicated COVID-19 facility in Dwarka -- Indira Gandhi Hospital -- were already operational.
High Commissioner of Canada to India, Nadir Patel, said that the focus should not be on the rise in coronavirus cases in India due to the B1617 virus variant rather on how to assist to address this situation so that the crisis is mitigated. "It would be easy to see how significant rise in this particular variant in terms of cases. We are moving forward to address this and getting on other side of this," said Mr Patel on the variant of coronavirus B.1.617, which WHO has classified as a variant of concern.
Bloated, decomposing bodies washed up on Monday morning on the banks of Ganga at Bihar's Buxar in frightening new visuals that expose the scale of India's Covid crisis.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Monday authorized the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years old.
"This is a promising development in our fight against the virus," said President Joe Biden.
"If you are a parent who wants to protect your child, or a teenager who is interested in getting vaccinated, today's decision is a step closer to that goal."
Maharashtra - the state where COVID-19 took the maximum toll - is considering looking at the possibility of importing vaccines directly for the use of citizens in Mumbai, state minister Aaditya Thackeray told NDTV today.