JAKARTA - India started a national exercise to increase emergency plans to deal with a potential fourth wave of COVID-19 over two days on Monday, after the country experienced a recent increase in cases.
Health officials on Monday reported more than 5,800 cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's number of active cases to 35,000.
New Delhi reported 699 COVID-19 infections and four deaths in the past 24 hours. Previously, the city of 22 million people recorded zero cases in January.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra has 788 new cases in which Mumbai, India's financial capital, accounted for 221 cases, nearly 10 times more than the city reported a month ago.
Several states, including Haryana in the north and Kerala in the south, have required the use of masks for students, pregnant women and people who have lifestyle-related diseases.
Meanwhile, experts say the spike in cases this time is moderate and may be the result of new variants, easing precautions and slow delivery of booster doses, but the government is not taking any risks.
The Ministry of Health has asked all government-run private hospitals and hospitals across the country to conduct mock exercises and inspect oxygen beds, ventilators, PPE equipment, as well as other critical care equipment and services.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will oversee this exercise at the All India Institute of Medical Science at Jhajjar, Haryana.
Mandaviya conducted a situation review last week, saying that the government will continue its strategy, namely "Test-Lrandom-Medication-Vaccination" and "Perlaku that is in accordance with COVID".
"We saw a spike in infection cases although it was still mild. We received 35 cases yesterday, but no one needed ventilator or oxygen assistance," Dr. Nagnath Yemaparle, a civilian surgeon at the District Hospital in Kota Pune, told The National News as reported April 10.
"We are currently testing the COVID ward with 100 beds. Inspections continue to be carried out to check equipment, oxygen cylinders, ventilators, preparedness and check all logistics to be ready for any situation," he explained.
India has recorded more than 44 million cases of infection and 530,979 deaths from COVID-19, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.
The country of 1.4 billion people experienced one of the worst waves of the pandemic in April-May 2021, with millions of people infected with the Delta variant. At least 240,000 people are thought to have died from COVID-19 during the wave.
Hospitals across the country run out of places and lack of adequate staff, medicines, and equipment to handle the number of cases, including lack of oxygen cylinders.
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