India Continues To Hold Record Of COVID-19 Cases, Vaccination Centers Are Closed Instead

JAKARTA - The COVID-19 tsunami continues to hit India. India's Health Ministry announced that the country was again setting a record daily COVID-19 cases, reaching 386.452 cases on Friday 30 April. Meanwhile, the death rate increased by 3.498.

Ironically, all vaccination centers in India's financial capital Mumbai were closed for three days starting Friday due to a vaccine shortage, authorities said.

Cited from Reuters, India has added about 7.7 million cases since the end of February when the second wave took off. In contrast, it took India nearly six months to add to the previous 7.7 million cases.

The country is in a deep crisis, with hospitals and morgues overwhelmed, medicine and oxygen in limited supply, and tight restrictions on movement in its largest cities.

With the status of the world's largest vaccine producer, India does not have enough supplies to keep up with the second wave of deadly COVID-19, even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Government plans to vaccinate all adults from May 1. Only about 9% of India's 1.4 billion people have received a vaccine dose since January.

PM Modi is scheduled to meet with the cabinet of ministers on Friday, as a wave of infections cripples the country's health system and threatens to have a major impact on India's economy.

In total, cited from the Times of India, there are around 18.7 million cases of COVID-19 in India with a death toll of 208.330. The surge in India was suspected due to a new variant of the coronavirus, political campaigns, and religious festivals that sparked crowds of residents.

Meanwhile, international aid has begun arriving in India as it struggles to combat what has been described as a humanitarian catastrophe.

The first US flight carrying oxygen cylinders, regulators, rapid diagnostic kits, N95 masks, and pulse oximeter arrived in India's capital Delhi on Friday.

"Just as India came to our aid at the start of the pandemic, the US is committed to working immediately to provide assistance to India in times of need", US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Twitter.

"Today we are proud to ship the first shipment of critical oxygen equipment, therapy, and raw materials for vaccine production", he continued.

The United States will send more than USD 100 million in medical aid, including 1.000 oxygen cylinders, 15 million N95 masks, and 1 million rapid diagnostic tests. Uncle Sam's country has also shifted its AstraZeneca supply order to India, to enable it to make more than 20 million doses.

Even so with assistance from other countries, such as Britain whose assistance was received on Thursday. Meanwhile, Romania and Ireland also sent supplies on Thursday evening.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Government through Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato on Friday local time said it was preparing to provide 300 respirators and 300 oxygen concentrators to India after the talks were over.

Kato did not specify when the respirators and concentrators would be delivered, but he hopes this will happen soon, given that India is currently struggling to secure hospital beds and medical oxygen while battling a surge in coronavirus cases.