India posted the world’s biggest one-day jump in coronavirus cases, with the number surging beyond 300,000 as a deadlier second wave showed no signs of abating in the country.
The South Asian nation, which has the world’s second-largest outbreak, reported 314,835 new infections Thursday, pushing the total to almost 16 million cases. The U.S., the worst-hit country globally, saw its peak one-day surge of 314,312 cases on Dec. 21 and has only reported more than 300,000 cases on two days since the onset of the pandemic. Infections in America are now on a downward trend helped in part by aggressive vaccinations.
COVID-related deaths in India jumped to 184,657. The country has administered more than 132 million vaccine doses, according to data from India’s health ministry. That’s enough to cover about 4.8% of its vast 1.3 billion population, according to Bloomberg’s vaccine tracker.
The deteriorating situation in the country shows how the pandemic crisis has shifted firmly to the developing world, where variants are threatening containment measures and there are a lack of vaccines after supplies were taken up by richer nations.
The outbreak threatens to derail the Indian economy that had just begun to recover after a nationwide lockdown last year pushed it into a historic recession. A new virus variant with a double mutation has also been detected locally, and concerns are growing that it’s driving the fierce new wave that is overwhelming India’s hospitals and crematoriums.
New Delhi’s largest hospital chain operator rushed to court Wednesday night to seek critical oxygen supply after 1,400 Covid-19 patients across the Indian capital were put at risk due to “dangerously low” supply levels.
The Delhi High Court’s two-judge panel headed by Justic Vipin Sanghi expressed “shock and dismay” over the government’s neglect and directed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration to “beg, borrow, steal” but ensure adequate oxygen supply for hospitals.
“This is just bad planning. Why didn’t we foresee this? This is not rocket science,” Justice Sanghi said during the hearing.
The late-night courtroom drama, with the state and federal government lawyers bickering over oxygen supplies to the national capital, which has among the best health-care infrastructure in the country, is a grim indicator of a worse situation in the hinterlands. The nation’s social media has turned into a helpline with desperate calls for help to secure medicines, hospital beds, and oxygen cylinders.
Care Ratings Ltd. on Wednesday lowered India’s gross domestic product growth forecast for the current fiscal year to 10.2%, from as much as 11.2% last month. This is its second downward revision in less than a month.