India's Covid-19 death toll nears 200,000, army called to help
BENGALURU (REUTERS) – India’s coronavirus death toll neared the bleak milestone of 200,000, with another 2,771 fatalities reported on Tuesday (April 27), while its armed forces pledged urgent medical aid to help battle the staggering spike in infections.
Over the past 24 hours, India recorded 323,144 new cases, below Monday’s worldwide peak of 352,991, with overrun hospitals continuing to turn away patients due to a shortage of beds and oxygen supplies.
It reported 2,771 new deaths, but health experts believe the tally runs significantly higher.
“Please note that a huge fall in daily cases… is largely due to a heavy fall in testing. This should not be taken as an indication of falling cases, rather a matter of missing out on too many positive cases!” Professor Rijo M. John, a health economist at the Indian Institute of Management in the southern state of Kerala, said in a post on Twitter.
Several countries, including Thailand, Singapore, Bangladesh and Britain, have taken steps to curb travel from India to prevent more virulent virus variants from entering their borders.
Australia paused direct passenger flights from India until May 15, the latest on a growing list of countries to curb travel from India to prevent more virulent virus variants from entering their borders. Three Australian cricketers also cut short their Indian Premier League season to head home amid the uncertainty.
The situation in the world’s second-most populous country is “beyond heartbreaking”, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
India has called on its armed forces to help tackle the devastating crisis. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said late on Monday that oxygen would be released from armed forces reserves and retired medical personnel would join health facilities that are struggling under the strain of cases.
Nations including Britain, Germany, and the United States have pledged urgent medical aid, while Indian Americans in US Congress and the technology sector have also joined forces to boost aid.
The United States has said it will share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine with other countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged all citizens to get vaccinated and exercise caution amid the “storm” of infections. In some of India’s worst-hit cities, bodies were being cremated in makeshift facilities in parks and parking lots. Critically ill patients lay on beds outside overwhelmed hospitals waiting for admission.
The US Chamber of Commerce warned the Indian economy, the world’s sixth largest, could falter as a result of the spike in cases, creating a drag for the global economy. “We expect that this could get worse before it gets better,” Myron Brilliant, executive vice-president of the Chamber, the biggest US business lobby, told Reuters.
“Major lobbying is on at this point of time to secure as much as possible for India,” a senior Indian official part of ongoing negotiations told Reuters, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been assured that India would be given priority.
“At this juncture even harshest critics of India are pushing the US regime” to aid India, the official added.
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