India Coronavirus Dispatch: Record daily rise in fresh cases and fatalities

Delhi's testing numbers fall, a mental health NGO launches a podcast focusing on the youth, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Nearly 361,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 360,960 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 17.9 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 3,292 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 201,187. This is the biggest ever one-day rise so far in cases and fatalities. The active caseload is at 2.9 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 14.8 million. As many as 147.8 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 2.5 million were given on Tuesday. Read more here

Took steps in 'professional manner' to prepare for spike in cases, Centre tells SC

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it took various measures in the “most professional manner to equip the nation” with everything needed to tackle an explosion in Covid-19 cases before the second wave hit the country, a report in ThePrint said. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)—in a 200-page affidavit filed before the apex court—provided details of multiple meetings the government held with states between last year and now, and the repeated reminders it sent them to ensure implementation of Covid-appropriate behaviour in public places, the report said. Read more here

Delhi's testing numbers fall

Testing numbers for Covid-19 has seen a big drop in Delhi, which at one time was conducting around 100,000 tests a day, a report in The Indian Express said. From testing numbers of 99,230 on 17, the city slipped first to 85,000-90,000 daily testing numbers, then to 70,000-odd between April 21 and April 25, to finally fall to just 57,690 tests on April 26. Booking a slot for a test has become more difficult by the day over the past week. Home collection of samples has been all but stopped by most laboratories, who complain of being overbooked and overworked. Read more here

Covid shots reduce chances of death and hospitalisation: US data

Data collected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the country’s national public health agency, shows that vaccines reduce hospitalisation and deaths in Covid-19 cases, a report in ThePrint said.

The data says only 77 out of over 87 million people who got shots in the US till 20 April died due to Covid. The US has the highest number of infections in the world. It also has the highest death toll— as many as 586,611 people have died in the country due to Covid. Read more here

Mental health NGO launches podcast focusing on the youth

Mental health NGO Sangath has launched a podcast that features the firsthand experiences of young people living through the pandemic, a report in The Indian Express said. Titled ‘Stories from a Pandemic’, the podcast was created through conversations with 40 youths across India about their experiences of coping with grief and loss, managing productivity, understanding how to prevent suicide and navigating social media, the report said. Read more here