Coronavirus ravages India with over 3.79 lakh new Covid-19 cases, 3,645 deaths

India saw a record single day rise of 3,79,257 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 1,83,76,524, while active cases crossed the 30-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll increased to 2,04,832 with a record 3,645 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Registering a steady increase, the active cases have increased to 30,84,814 comprising 16.79 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has further dropped to 82.10 per cent.

Read | US to send over $100 million in Covid supplies to India

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,50, 86,878. The case fatality rate has further dropped to 1.11 per cent, the data stated.

India's Covid-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.

According to the ICMR, 28,44,71,979 samples have been tested up to April 28 with 17,68,190 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 3,645 new fatalities include 1,035 from Maharashtra, 368 from Delhi, 279 from Chhattisgarh, 265 from Uttar Pradesh, 229 from Karnataka, 174 from Gujarat, 149 from Jharkhand, 142 from Punjab, 120 from Rajasthan, 108 from Uttarakhand and 105 from Madhya Pradesh.

Read | More test positive for Covid-19 double mutant strain in Bengaluru

A total of 2,04,832 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 67,214 from Maharashtra, 15,377 from Delhi, 15,036 from Karnataka, 13,826 from Tamil Nadu, 11,943 from Uttar Pradesh, 11,159 from West Bengal, 8,772 from Punjab and 8,061 from Chhattisgarh.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

"Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of Medical Research," the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

In many cities, hospitals are running out of beds as relatives of the sick crowd outside pharmacies and suppliers for medicines and oxygen cylinders.

"We rushed to multiple hospitals, but were denied admission everywhere," said the son of an 84-year-old woman who died at home this week after a desperate search for a hospital bed and oxygen in Kolkata, capital of West Bengal state.

The spiking body count has also overwhelmed crematoriums and graveyards, and caused a shortage of wood for funeral pyres.

The government will open vaccinations to all adults from Saturday. It had previously limited shots to the over-45s and certain other groups.

Several states have warned, however, that they do not have sufficient vaccine stocks and the expanded rollout is threatened by administrative bickering, confusion over prices and technical glitches on the government's digital vaccine platform.

Many nations have rushed to help India, including the United States which on Wednesday announced it was sending more than $100 million in supplies.

A first US military flight, carrying 960,000 rapid tests and 100,000 face masks for frontline health workers, was due to arrive on Thursday.

The World Health Organization has said the virus variant feared to be contributing to the catastrophe in India has now been found in more than a dozen countries.

But the body stopped short of saying it is more transmissible, more deadly or able to dodge vaccines.

Ugur Sahin, the co-founder of vaccine developer and Pfizer partner BioNTech, said he was confident his company's shot works against that variant.

In the United States, President Joe Biden on Wednesday hailed his nation's inoculation programme as one of "the greatest logistical achievements" in American history.

More than 234 million doses had been administered by Wednesday in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The rollout has boosted hopes that the world's biggest economy is primed for recovery.

Countries are looking to do the same in Europe, where more than 50 million known infections have been logged since the start of the pandemic, according to an AFP tally of official data Wednesday.

Read | India's Covid-19 oxygen crisis: why is there a deadly crunch?

The Netherlands on Wednesday ended a curfew and eased restrictions on outdoor bars and terraces.

It followed similar moves in Italy, Portugal and Switzerland. France is hoping to join the trend and ease more restrictions this month.

Outside of the wealthier parts of the world, however, governments are scrambling to find any available vaccine stocks so they can accelerate their rollouts.

In addition to the shots developed in the West, Chinese and Russian candidates have also been exported and helped many nations launch their vaccination programmes.

But there was a setback for Russia's Sputnik V jab this week, when Brazil's drug regulator denied permission to import it to the hard-hit South American nation on the basis that the batches they tested carried a live version of a common cold-causing virus.

Some scientists have backed that decision, saying it could be a safety issue for people with weak immune systems.

The Gamaleya Institute, which developed the vaccine, has denied the reports.

A deal has been signed to produce Sputnik V in Brazil's neighbour Argentina, where the pandemic restrictions and the resulting economic collapse continue to punish the poorest.

(With inputs from Reuters)