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India accounts for 46pc of world’s new cases, quarter of deaths

Published : Thursday, 6 May, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 701

GENEVA, May 5: India accounted for 46% of the new Covid-19 cases recorded worldwide last week and one in four of deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday.
The surge of the coronavirus in India, including of a highly infectious new variant first identified there, has seen hospitals runs out of beds and oxygen, and morgues and crematoriums overflowing. Many people have died in ambulances and car parks waiting for a bed or oxygen.
Worldwide, 5.7 million new cases were reported last week and more than 93,000 deaths, the WHO said in its weekly epidemiological report. India reported nearly 2.6 million new cases, a 20% increase on the previous week, and 23,231 deaths.
The figures are based on official tallies, so India's proportion could be even larger if, as many experts believe, a large number of cases and deaths are not being recorded there as the system becomes overwhelmed. India accounts for almost 18% of the world's population.
On Tuesday India became the second country to record 20 million infections, after the United States. India's coronavirus deaths rose by a record 3,780 during the last 24 hours, with daily infections rising by 382,315 on Wednesday, health ministry data showed.
India on Wednesday pledged billions of dollars to boost its flagging vaccine programme, as President Joe Biden said 70 percent of American adults should have had at least one coronavirus shot by July 4. With vaccines among the main weapons in the fight against the pandemic, pharma giant Pfizer reported a huge jump in profits based on sales of its Covid-19 shot as a growing campaign called for patent waivers so poorer nations can get quicker access.
Among the leaders of that campaign is India, which reported nearly 3,800 new deaths Wednesday -- a national record -- and more than 380,000 fresh cases as it grapples with one of the world's worst outbreaks.
Experts have warned that case numbers will keep rising until the end of May and could reach 500,000 new infections a day. India's underfunded health system has struggled to cope with this wave, with patients dying in hospital parking lots due to a lack of beds and medical oxygen.
The government expanded its massive vaccination programme to all adults last week, but many states are facing shortages.
While New Delhi and other major cities have imposed curfews and other restrictions, the government has resisted opposition calls for a nationwide lockdown as it tries to avoid the economic downturn that accompanied such restrictions last year.
Vaccine shortages are not an issue in the United States, however, where President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he wanted 70 percent of American adults to have received at least one shot by the July 4 Independence Day holiday.
Biden also said his administration was "ready to move immediately" if regulators authorise the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds.    -AFP







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