Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain flagged a huge oxygen shortage at another key hospital in the city this evening. Guru Teg Bahadur hospital — run by the Delhi government — has supplies for only four hours, the minister said. Pointing out that the hospital has more than 500 Covid patients on oxygen, he asked Union minister Piyush Goyal for help.
Hundreds of Indian students and UK-based Indian-origin families have been sent into a mode of confusion and panic with India being added to Britain's COVID-19 travel "red list", which imposes a ban on entry to the country for all except British or Irish residents. The red list status, which is effective from 4 am local time on Friday
Amid surging COVID-19 cases in the country, the government on Tuesday waived customs duty on Remdesivir, its raw materials and other components used to make the antiviral drug. The move would help augment domestic availability and reduce cost of the injection. Remdesivir is being used in the treatment of coronavirus.
Delhi on Tuesday reported 28,395 coronavirus cases as it registered its biggest ever single-day spike. The city, worst-hit by the rapid second wave of infections, logged 277 deaths in a day. The national capital's active caseload has jumped to nearly 85,600. The case positivity rate was a whopping 32.82 per cent on Tuesday. 86,526 Covid tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, according to the state government.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday alleged that the shortage of medical oxygen was due to the lack of logistics to transport it, and asked why the government did not make arrangements when a second COVID-19 wave was "inevitable". She urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to use every resource at his disposal to move medical oxygen to wherever it is needed.
Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organisation (WHO), is among a worldwide team of 20 experts who make up a new UK-led Pandemic Preparedness Partnership (PPP), which is meeting on Tuesday as part of global efforts to save lives from future diseases. The PPP is chaired by UK Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, and has the remit to report to world leaders at June's UK-hosted G7 Summit in Cornwall.
With the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination opening up in less than two weeks for everyone above 18 years largely through private facilities, government data shows almost all small states and union territories are still entirely or mostly dependent upon government facilities.
Karnataka on Tuesday has declared a state-wide curfew on nights and weekends starting from Wednesday. The night curfew will commence from 9 pm to 6 am till May 4.
Amid the spurting cases of coronavirus nationwide, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation on Tuesday evening said that states should stress on creating micro-containment zones and lockdown should be the last refuge. The Prime Minister then urged the citizens, especially the youths, to come forward to help the needy.
Keeping in view of the spurting cases of coronavirus in Assam, the state government has issued fresh guidelines for the conduct of schools including only 50 per cent attendance from standard 6 to 12 in districts having over 100 cases of COVID-19. The rule also applies to colleges, institutes and universities in districts where the cases have surged above 100.
The district administration here on Tuesday said around 77,000 migrant workers were sent home in over 1,500 buses.
Veteran actor Kishore Nandlaskar, who featured in several Marathi and Hindi films like "Purna Satya" and "Jis Desh Mein Ganga Rehta Hai", died on Tuesday due to COVID-19 complications. He was 81. Nandlaskar was admitted to Global COVID centre in Thane last week after he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Delhi Capitals notched up a six-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in a low-scoring IPL match in Chennai on Tuesday.
A critical COVID-19 woman patient, who was seven months" pregnant, has safely delivered a baby at a hospital in Kalyan town of Maharashtra"s Thane district, officials said on Tuesday.
As India reels under a massive spike in coronavirus cases, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has asked the Army to extend assistance to state administrations to deal with the pandemic, including by offering help in creation of additional capacities to treat COVID-19 patients.