India Coronavirus Dispatch: Daily cases touch nearly 300,000

Bureaucrats earn Modi flak over handling of the second wave, top Delhi hospitals get oxygen supply, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Over 295,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 2,95,041 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative tally to 15.6 million infections, according to central health ministry data. This is a fresh record for a single-day rise in cases. The country saw 2,023 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 182,553. The active caseload is at 2.1 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 13.2 million. As many as 130 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 2.9 million were given on Tuesday. Read more here

Bihar: Frontline worker crunch as 700 health workers, police officers test positive

Amid rising Covid cases, Bihar's capacity to treat patients has been further hampered as about 500 doctors, nurses, lab technicians and other staff have tested positive over the last two weeks, a report in The Indian Express said. Besides, over 200 policemen have also been infected. For instance, 248 staffers of AIIMS, Patna have been infected, its director Dr PK Singh informed the High Court. The court ordered that a two-member team, including the AIIMS director, be formed and asked it to submit a report on the working conditions and health status of doctors and other staffers. Read more here

Top Delhi hospitals get oxygen supply

Some of the national capital's biggest medical facilities received a late-night oxygen refill yesterday after many politicians including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flagged an acute shortage, a report in NDTV said.

Oxygen tankers arrived late on Tuesday at some of these places, including Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital. These hospitals were hours away from running out of stock. Delhi's biggest Covid-19 facility, the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital, received 10 tonnes of supplies. The hospital said the stock would suffice for now. Read more here

States unhappy with decision to pass the buck on vaccine costs

State officials are unhappy with the Centre's decision to shift the burden of procuring vaccines for the 18-45 age band entirely to state governments, a report in the Scroll said. The officials said the policy of deregulating prices of vaccines would add a “heavy burden” on the finances of the states that are already in poor shape. The policy could also lead to a delay in the vaccination process itself as it is not clear whether the supply of vaccines could match the demand, the officials said. Read more here

Top officials earn Modi flak over handling of second wave

Several of India's top bureaucrats were pulled up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to handle the second wave of Covid-19 in a better way, a report in ThePrint said that cited government sources.

The officials were pulled up Saturday at a meeting chaired by Modi to review Covid preparedness. “He (Modi) told the bureaucrats in as many words that they have not been as enthusiastic in responding to the crisis like last time,” a source told ThePrint. Read more here