Covid-19 Wrap-up: India reports 3.8 lakh fresh cases, another single-day record

Oxygen, hospital beds, medicines...these resources are taken for granted when they are easily accessible. Everything changed over the last month, however, when the might of the pandemic's second wave broke the back of health infrastructure in the country.

The Centre asked the states to treat the available oxygen as a critical commodity and undertake an oxygen-consumption audit at all hospitals, including private ones, amid a shortage of the life-saving gas in several parts of the country.

The nation's severe medical oxygen crisis is expected to ease by mid-May, a top industry executive said, with output rising by 25% and transport infrastructure ready to cope with the surge in demand from the dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases.

The latest shortage to confront us in the war against Covid-19 is one we didn't expect - vaccines. Several states have run out of Covid-19 vaccines a day before a planned widening of a nationwide inoculation drive.

India saw more than 3.8 lakh new Covid-19 infections in 24 hours, the highest single-day rise so far, pushing the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 1.87 crore while active cases crossed the 31-lakh mark, according to Union Health Ministry data. Overall, 3,498 people have succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours.

Karnataka's Covid-19 tally surpassed the 15-lakh mark with the biggest single-day spike of 48,296 cases, while 217 fatalities took the toll to 15,523.

Facing a deluge of very sick patients and overfilled hospitals, paramedic Ankita Patel says she keeps her growing fear at bay by focusing on her patients as the pandemic rages around her.

A Union Council of Ministers meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the rampaging Covid-19 second wave noted that the present crisis was a "once-in-a-century crisis" and stressed that the participation of society was a key aspect to accomplish the gigantic task ahead. The prime minister expressed confidence that the country would rise to the occasion and defeat the virus.

The government has placed orders for the import of 4.5 lakh vials of antiviral drug Remdesivir with the first consignment of 75,000 vials expected to reach Indian shores on Friday, according to the Chemicals and Fertilizers Ministry.

Here's what we know about the Indian variant of the novel coronavirus.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has moved the Madras High Court to direct media houses to refrain from reporting on oral observations made during court proceedings and report only on observations recorded in orders or judgments. This follows the wide reportage of the Madras HC's oral observations on April 26 when the judges had made a scathing attack on the ECI, accusing it of being "singularly" responsible for Covid-19's second wave and went to the extent of saying that its officials "should be booked for murder" for allowing political parties to hold rallies in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

This year's Twenty20 World Cup to be conducted in India could be moved to the United Arab Emirates if the Covid-19 crisis does not subside, according to the Board of Control for Cricket in India.