Covid-19 in India and the world latest news: Reports new single-day record of COVID-19 infections
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India’s COVID cases rise by record 414,188; deaths swell by 3,915

India has reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases of 414,188, while deaths from COVID-19 swelled by 3,915, according to the health ministry data.

A man reacts before the cremation of his relative, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the banks of the river Ganges at Garhmukteshwar in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, May 6, 2021. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui

India’s total coronavirus infections now stand at 21.49 million, while its total fatalities have reached 234,083, the ministry said on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.

The South Asian nation which is battling a ferocious second wave of coronavirus has added 1.57 million cases and just over 15,100 deaths this week alone.

Experts believe both the number of daily cases as well as deaths are an undercount.

K Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific adviser to the government, described the explosion of cases “a very critical time for the country” and warned of an “inevitable” third wave.

Modi faces growing pressure for lockdown as India’s COVID-19 cases soar

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi faced growing pressure to impose a strict nationwide lockdown, despite the economic pain it will exact, as a startling surge in coronavirus cases that has pummeled the country’s health system shows no signs of abating.

Photo: CNN

Many medical experts, opposition leaders and even Supreme Court judges are calling for national restrictions, arguing that a patchwork of state rules is insufficient to quell the rise in infections, according to Associated Press.

Indian television stations broadcast images of patients lying on stretchers outside hospitals waiting to be admitted, with hospital beds and critical oxygen in short supply. People infected with COVID-19 in villages are being treated in makeshift outdoor clinics, with IV drips hanging from trees.

As deaths soar, crematoriums and burial grounds have been swamped with bodies, and relatives often wait hours to perform the last rites for their loved ones.

The situation is so dramatic that among those calling for a strict lockdown are merchants who know their businesses will be affected but see no other way out.

“Only if our health is good, will we be able to earn,” said Aruna Ramjee, a florist in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru. “The lockdown will help everyone, and coronavirus spread will also come down.”

The government provided free wheat, rice and lentils to the poorest for nearly a year and also small cash payments, while Modi also vowed an economic relief package of more than $260 billion. But the lockdown, imposed on four hours’ notice, also stranded tens of millions of migrant workers who were left jobless and fled to villages, with many dying along the way.

The national restrictions caused the economy to contract by a staggering 23% in the second quarter last year, though a strong recovery was under way before infections skyrocketed recently.

The volunteers answering Covid SOS calls from India's sick and dying

Srinivas B.V. barely sleeps at night. His phone rings 24 hours a day with cries of help from Indians begging for oxygen supplies, ventilators, hospital beds -- whatever he can provide.

"If we miss a call, we call back and ask what we can do," said Srinivas, who leads the youth wing of the opposition Indian National Congress party, according to CNN.

Earlier this week, Srinivas and his team rushed an oxygen cylinder to the New Delhi home of a woman whose father was suffering from Covid-19. Despite their best efforts, the man died later that night. Scared, alone and Covid-positive herself, the woman had nobody to help cremate her father's body -- so Srinivas's team arranged an ambulance and facilitated the cremation.

India's second wave has consumed the country. In the past 30 days alone, India has reported more than 8.3 million new cases, including 412,262 on Thursday, its highest ever daily surge.

Experts and patients say India's worst-hit cities feel like warzones. Hospitals are so full that patients share beds or lie on the floor. Many die before they see a doctor. Communities and volunteers have set up makeshift clinics -- rows of plastic chairs and mattresses under tarpaulins, where patients lie gasping for air in the sweltering heat.

To meet the surge in demand, Srinivas and his team are among 1,000 members of the youth wing working day and night around the country, including 100 in the capital New Delhi.

"(People) are not having access to oxygen, nor hospital beds," said Manu Jain, the national convenor of the youth wing. "No infrastructure is there. The government is nowhere. The system has completely collapsed, so people are on their own right now."

The Indian government issued a strong denial of any delay in distributing aid and medical supplies on Tuesday evening, saying nearly 4 million donated items, spanning 24 categories, have already been distributed to 38 health care facilities across the country.

India’s vaccinations decline as its virus outbreak reaches new highs

As India recorded a single-day high in new coronavirus cases on Thursday, its vaccination campaign has been marred by shortages and states are competing against one another to get doses, limiting the government’s hope that the country can soon emerge from a devastating outbreak.

A vaccination center at a school in New Delhi on Wednesday. Credit...Tauseef Mustafa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The Indian health ministry recorded about 410,000 cases in 24 hours, a new global high, and 3,980 deaths, the highest daily death toll in any country outside the United States. Experts believe the number of actual infections and deaths is much higher, New York Times reported.

India’s pace of vaccinations has become a source of global concern as its outbreak devastates the nation and spreads into neighboring countries, and as a variant first identified there begins to be found around the world. The outbreak has prompted India to keep vaccine doses produced by its large drug manufacturing industry at home instead of exporting them, slowing down vaccination campaigns elsewhere.

In an effort to make doses more widely available within India, the authorities have allowed states and private health care providers to buy vaccines directly from manufacturers. But that has left state governments competing with one another for doses, and experts say it has added more troubles to a sluggish rollout. The authorities in Delhi, the capital, and several states have said they had to delay the expansion of vaccine access to younger age groups because of shortages.

Pfizer Seeks Full FDA Approval For COVID-19 Vaccine

Pfizer and its vaccine partner BioNTech have started an application to request the Food and Drug Administration's approval for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer is the first coronavirus vaccine maker in the U.S. to request full approval. Like Pfizer, the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines had been previously cleared for use under the agency's emergency use authorization — a less rigorous approval method to aid a swifter response to the pandemic, according to NPR.

Pfizer-BioNTech is seeking the Food and Drug Administration's approval for its COVID-19 vaccine, with the goal of getting the agency's green light "in the coming months." Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images

An FDA approval for a vaccine means the agency has decided that its benefits outweigh the known risks following a review of the manufacturer's testing results.

If granted, Pfizer's full stamp of approval would only apply to the vaccine for people who are 16 and older. Meanwhile, the vaccine maker is seeking emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine to include children between 12 and 15.

"We look forward to working with the FDA to complete this rolling submission and support their review, with the goal of securing full regulatory approval of the vaccine in the coming months," Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a press release Friday.

EU executive eyes new Pfizer deal for 1.8 billion COVID vaccines "very soon"

The European Union’s executive said on Friday it hoped the bloc would soon be able to finalise a new contract with Pfizer for up to 1.8 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines to cover booster shots and the inoculation of children in the coming years.

Spokespeople for the European Commission declined to comment on whether France was delaying talks on finalising the deal, as had been reported by German newspaper Die Welt, according to Reuters.

“The college of (EU) Commissioners, we’re hoping they’ll be able to give the green light to the new contract... We hope the College will be able to give the go ahead very soon,” a spokesman told a news briefing in EU hub Brussels.

AstraZeneca weighs seeking full US approval for COVID shot

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shot, developed by Oxford University, has resulted in reports of rare blood clots with low platelet levels that occur more commonly in younger adults. (Photo: Reuters)

AstraZeneca Plc may skip asking the US Food and Drug Administration for emergency-use authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine and instead pursue the more time-intensive application for a full-fledged license to sell the shot, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

Such a step would further delay any roll-out of the British drug-maker’s shots in the United States, according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday.

Last week, AstraZeneca said it was working as fast as possible to compile data on its COVID-19 vaccine to apply for US approval, but that the data set was very big.

The company said it planned to apply for US approval in the coming weeks.

The White House said late in April that the United States would start to share up to 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine with other countries over the next few weeks.

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 shot, developed by Oxford University, has resulted in reports of rare blood clots with low platelet levels that occur more commonly in younger adults.

Some countries have advised the shot be given only to older people.

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