With over 3.62 lakh daily COVID infections, India again records more cases than recoveries

The number of daily infections in India crossed daily recoveries with 3,62,727 new COVID-19 cases being reported in the last 24 hours. The daily recovered cases stand at 3,52,181, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The death toll has risen to 4120 deaths, touching 2.58 lakh deaths in total with fears of COVID patients contracting a fungal infection that has upped the death count.

The total active caseload comprises 15.87 per cent of the country's total infections. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are among the states that account for 82.51 per cent of the total active cases, the ministry said.

Earlier the ministry had said that the states with the highest caseload had been showing a "sliding curve" indicating that infections were slowly plateauing. Meanwhile, West Bengal on Wednesday registered its highest single-day spike of 20,377 new COVID-19 cases.

According to NDTV, twelve major opposition parties have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting a series of measures that included the distribution of free vaccines, a stop to the work on the Rs 13,450 crore Central Vista project and divert all available resources towards handling the pandemic.

Amid reports of shortage, Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech have told the Centre they can ramp production up to 10 crores and 7.8 crore doses respectively by August, news agency PTI reported quoting sources.

The US is also looking at joint production of Johnson and Johnson's COVID vaccine in India and ways to help manufacturers like Serum Institute of India (SII) to boost production, Daniel B Smith, Charge d'Affaires of the US Embassy, said on Tuesday.

34.66 lakh doses of vaccines have been administered from May 1-May 12 to those in the 18-44 age group (the cohort for which states have to procure from the open market). Over 85% were administered in just seven states: Maharashtra (6.25 lakh), Rajasthan (5.49 lakh), Delhi (4.71 lakh), Gujarat (3.86 lakh), Haryana (3.55 lakh), Bihar (3.02 lakh), and Uttar Pradesh (2.65 lakh). According to the Union Health Ministry over 17.70 crore vaccines have been administered in total.

Several states have reported a shortage of vaccines. In the south, Karnataka has said it will temporarily suspend the COVID-19 vaccination for the age group of 18 to 44 years from tomorrow. Neighbouring Telangana, meanwhile, has sought immediate release of 13 lakh doses of vaccine - 10 lakh of Covishield and 3 lakh Covaxin - from the Centre.

On Wednesday, the Prime Minister's office stated that the production of antiviral drugs like Remdesivir had been increased significantly concerning increased demand. A high-level meeting was chaired by the PMO to assess oxygen and medication requirements.