India Reports Worst Day For Covid-19 In Months

Hospitals in districts have begun to run short of beds; India revises 2nd dose interval for Covishield to 4-8 weeks; Indian group to make 200m doses of Russia’s Sputnik V↑

India reported its most COVID-19 cases and deaths in months on Monday, on the first anniversary of the start of a chaotic nationwide lockdown that let many people jobless and shrank the economy.

Authorities reintroduced some curbs to slow the spread of the virus, especially in the western state of Maharashtra, which accounted for nearly two-thirds of the 46,951 new infections and the majority of the 212 deaths.

Some hospitals in the country’s worst-affected districts have begun to run short of beds, and there is a rising clamour for the immunisation campaign to be widened to cover more people, instead of just the elderly and those suffering from other health conditions.

With the biggest rise in cases since early November, India’s total has surpassed 11.65 million, the highest in the world after the United States and Brazil.

The increase in deaths was the largest since early January and took the total to 159,967.

In some parts of India, most people still go out without masks and flout advice on social distancing, including politicians campaigning in four states where elections will begin later this month.