COVID-19 in India: Amid rising SOS calls, daily deaths hit 3,689

A record 3689 daily COVID19 fatalities pushed Indiarsquos death toll to 215542 while the infection count reached to 19557457 with 392488 more people being confirmed positive for the disease according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on SundayThe active cases have crossed the 33lakh mark the data updated at 8 am showedRegistering a steady increase the active cases have increased to 3349644 comprising 1713 per cent of the total infections while the national COVID19 recovery rate has further dropped to 8177 per cent The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1 5992271 while the case fatality rate has further dropped to 110 per cent the data stated2 hospitals ring oxygen alarm bellsBattling an acute shortage of oxygen some hospitals in Delhi on Sunday sent out desperate SOS calls to authorities to replenish their dwindling stocks with one healthcare facility even ldquocrying outrdquo to the government to shift out its patientsFamily members of COVID19 patients wait to fill their empty cylinders with liquid medical oxygen outside an oxygen filling agency in New Delhi on Sunday PicPTIMadhukar Rainbow Childrenrsquos Hospital in Malviya Nagar on Sunday sounded an alarm about their depleting stocks around noon saying 50 people including four newborns were ldquoat riskrdquoAn official of the hospital said in the afternoon there are around 80 patients including those suffering from COVID19 at the hospital It also has 15 newborns he said ldquoThere are 50 people including four newborns on oxygen support They are at riskrdquo the official saidAakash Healthcare in Dwarka appealed to government authorities to shift patients to other facilities ldquoso that they can be savedrdquo ldquoCRY FOR HELP Received only 5 oxygen cylinders after running around the entire day not more than 60 mins left to save lives of more than 250 patientsrdquo a tweet posted from the hospitalrsquos handle readDr Deepali Gupta from Triton Hospital in Kalkaji said they have been struggling to arrange oxygen for their neonatal intensive care unit ldquoWe have been scrambling for oxygen for over a week A major tragedy may occur if a continuous supply is not ensured soonrdquo she saidCentre says 122 crore doses neededThe Centre has told the Supreme Court that a total of 122 crore doses of COVID19 vaccine will be required to vaccinate a population of 59 crore in the age group of 18 to 45 yearsGovernment says 104 crematoriums say 2557Crematoriums in Bhopal claim that the last rites of as many as 2557 coronavirus victims from Bhopal district were performed in April sharply contradicting the BJPled state governmentrsquos data which puts the COVID19 deaths in the district last month at 104 The mammoth mismatch has given credence to claims of massive underreporting of COVID19 fatalities in the cityHealth ministerrsquos father dies of COVID19Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain has lost his father to Covid19 Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted on Sunday ldquoOur health minister Satyendra Jain lost his father today to COVIDrdquo he said terming it ldquovery very sadrdquo ldquoSatyendra himself has been working tirelessly round the clock for the people of Delhi God bless his soul and my heartfelt condolences to the familyrdquo Kejriwal added in his tweet12 journalists test positiveAs many as 12 journalists who had undergone RTPCR tests to cover the Belgaum Lok Sabha bypoll counting have tested positive for COVID19 officials said on Sunday A total of 29 journalists had undergone the tests as mandated by the Election Commission said the officialsPoonawalla says will return to India in a few daysAdar PoonawallaSerum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla who has been in the UK on extended stay to evade alleged threats in India over everincreasing demand for COVID19 vaccines has said he will return in a few days In a late night tweet on Saturday he said the production of Covishield the OxfordAstraZenecarsquos COVID19 vaccine that is being produced by Serum Institute in India was in full swing at SIIrsquos facility in Pune ldquoPleased to state that COVISHIELDrsquos production is in full swing in Pune I look forward to reviewing operations upon my return in a few daysrdquo Poonawalla said He however did not give a timeline for his return to IndiaRetiring officers to get extensionAround 200 Short Service Commission SSC officers with the Armed Forces Medical Services AFMS due for retirement over the next seven months will get an extension till December 31 in view of the COVID19 situation in the country a senior Army officer said on Sunday The Army on Sunday also said it has reduced attendance in its offices and cancelled all physical conferences and meetings till the end of this month in order to contain the spread of COVID1919557457Total no of coronavirus cases in India so far215542Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far1 5992271Total no of patients Recovered and discharged in india so far156816031Total no of people vaccinated so farThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever