International

India is hopeful the United States will soon lift a ban on the export of vaccine raw materials that threatens to slow India's inoculation drive, two Indian government sources told Reuters on Monday, after the foreign ministers of the two nations spoke. One official said the Biden administration had told India that its request for a lifting of the ban was being considered and would be acted upon ‘at the earliest’. Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar tweeted that he and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had discussed, among other things, ‘issues pertaining to our health cooperation’. The Indian foreign ministry declined to elaborate. The US State Department confirmed the two diplomats discussed Covid-19, but did not give details. India is currently facing the world's worst surge in coronavirus infections, which has led to a clamour for vaccines. The country with the world's biggest vaccine-making capacity has also stopped major exports to meet domestic demand. Jaishankar confirmed on Monday that the government was trying to address the raw materials matter but that it was important for India to meet its export commitments too. ‘I am pushing other countries, particularly some big countries, saying 'Look, please keep the raw materials flowing for the vaccines to be made in India',’ he said, without naming any country. ‘Can I ... go around the world and tell people 'Guys keep your supply chain flowing towards me ... but I am not going to give you the vaccine?'‘ Washington has invoked the Defense Production Act to preserve vaccine raw materials for its own companies, but the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine maker, has said this went against the global goal of sharing vaccines equitably. Asked about the restrictions on exports, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said inequities in access to vaccines were ‘completely unacceptable’, but declined to detail additional US action to address that. SII is licensed to make the AstraZeneca shot as well another developed by US company Novavax.  

India will let all citizens over 18 have Covid-19 vaccinations from May 1, the government said yesterday, as the health system creaked under the weight of record-high cases and the capital region of New Delhi ordered a lockdown. Facing growing criticism over its handling of the second wave of the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration said vaccine manufacturers would have to supply 50% of doses to the federal government and the rest to state governments and the open market at a pre-declared price. Daily Covid-19 cases in India jumped a record 273,810 yesterday, and deaths rose a record 1,619 to 178,769. Hospitals have a shortage of beds, oxygen and key medicines, and infections have passed 15mn, the world’s second highest total after the US. The New Delhi region ordered a six-day lockdown starting yesterday night after its chief minister said the health system was unable to take more patients in big numbers. “If a lockdown isn’t implemented now, the situation will go beyond control,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a virtual media briefing yesterday. Criticism of Modi’s administration has increased as he continued to address large state election rallies and let Hindus congregate for a festival. Kejriwal had said on Sunday that fewer than 100 critical care beds were available in the city of New Delhi, which has a population of more than 20mn people, and social media were flooded with complaints. New Delhi joined 13 other Indian states that have decided to impose restrictions, curfews or lockdowns in their cities, including the richest state of Maharashtra and Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where the industrial city of Ahmedabad is also grappling with a shortage of beds. Hong Kong said late on Sunday that the Asian financial hub will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from today for two weeks. Britain has put India on a travel “red-list” and Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a planned trip to India next week. As of yesterday, India had administered nearly 123.9mn vaccine doses — the most in the world after the US and China, though it ranks much lower in per capita vaccination. The current vaccination process is controlled by the federal government. Liberalising it would augment vaccine production and availability, and attract new domestic and international vaccine manufacturers, the government said in its statement. Meanwhile, the government has approved a Rs45.67bn ($610mn) grant for Covid-19 vaccine makers Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech to boost production capacity, the finance minister said. Of the total, SII, the world’s biggest maker of vaccines including the AstraZeneca shot, will get Rs30bn rupees ($400mn), Nirmala Sitharaman told news channel CNBC-TV18 yesterday. SII sought the funds to increase its monthly capacity to more than 100mn doses by the end of May, from up to 70mn currently. “We are clear that we will give whatever support is necessary to develop and boost the availability of vaccines in the country,” a government source said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter. Government ‘set to waive’ 10% import duty India will waive its 10% customs duty on imported Covid-19 vaccines, a senior government official said yesterday, as the government tries to boost supplies to counter a dramatic surge in coronavirus cases. Imports of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine are due to arrive soon and the government has also urged Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson to sell their products to India. The official, who declined to be named, also said the government was considering allowing private entities to import approved vaccines for sale on the open market without government intervention. They could also be given the freedom to set pricing, he added. The government currently regulates the sale and purchase of all Covid-19 shots in the country. A finance ministry spokesman did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment outside business hours. Other South Asian countries, including Nepal and Pakistan, as well as Latin American nations such as Argentina and Brazil levy vaccine import tariffs ranging between 10% and 20%.

Many Indians are pillorying Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his response to a scary surge in coronavirus cases, sickened by him addressing tens of thousands of people at state election rallies and letting Hindu devotees congregate for a festival. Tags like #ResignModi and #SuperSpreaderModi have trended on Twitter in the past two days, as bodies piled up in mortuaries and crematoriums, and desperate cries for hospital beds, medical oxygen and coronavirus tests flooded social media. Having swept to power in 2014 with the biggest single party majority in decades, Modi is unused to such public roasting. He has diced with losing support before by springing unpopular reforms, notably after he decommissioned high denomination banknotes overnight in 2014, and last year, when his agricultural reforms provoked months of mass protests by angry farmers. But this is different. The economy has struggled to recover following a months-long lockdown last year, yet for all the hardship suffered then, the second wave of the coronavirus epidemic is proving deadlier than the first. India is currently recording more new cases of coronavirus than any other country, and this week it is expected to rise above the high tide of the epidemic seen in the United States, when daily new cases peaked at nearly 300,000 in early January. Deaths in India have risen to nearly 179,000. Yet Modi and his ministers have campaigned heavily ahead of state elections in West Bengal, where opinion polls showed the prime minister's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in a tight race with a regional party that rules the state. ‘You hold rallies as people head to funerals,’ Akhilesh Jha, the data head of the federal Department of Science & Technology, wrote in Hindi on LinkedIn, in a rare public outburst by a government official. ‘People will hold you accountable, you keep doing your rallies.’ Several other government officials privately shared similar sentiments with Reuters. The eight-phase voting in West Bengal ends on April 29. Whatever happens there, Modi doesn't have to worry about a national vote until 2024, but presently it is hard to say when India's coronavirus epidemic will subside. A government spokesman did not respond to queries on criticism of Modi. But Piyush Goyal, the minister for railways, commerce and industry, told Reuters television partner ANI that Modi was working for many hours a day to manage the crisis. On Saturday, Modi requested religious leaders to only symbolically celebrate a festival known as Kumbh Mela, after tens of thousands of Hindu devotees gathered daily in close proximity to immerse themselves in the Ganges. But that was on the seventeenth day of the festival scheduled to run until the end of April, and it is yet to be officially called off despite authorities detecting hundreds of infections among participants who had poured in from across the country. Though it isn't a force in the state, the main national opposition Congress party on Sunday called off election rallies in Bengal. But the BJP has insisted on its candidates ‘constitutional right’ to campaign for at least 14 days. Covid-19 cases in Bengal, meanwhile, have quadrupled since the start of April, and at least three election contestants have died. ‘How many deaths does it take ‘til he knows, that too many people have died?’ Nirupama Menon Rao, a former foreign secretary, asked on Twitter.      

India's capital region of Delhi ordered a six-day lockdown on Monday as daily Covid-19 cases nationwide hit a new record and the health system crumbled under the weight of new infections. India's hospitals are struggling with a shortage of beds, oxygen and key medicines as infections pass the 15 million mark, second only to the United States. "Delhi's health system is unable to take more patients in big numbers," Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal told a virtual press briefing on Monday. "If a lockdown isn't implemented now the situation will go beyond control." British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cancelled a planned trip to India next week due to the coronavirus, his office said. Fewer than 100 critical care beds were available in the city of New Delhi, with a population of more than 20 million people, Kejriwal had said on Sunday, as social media was flooded with complaints. Daily Covid-19 cases in India jumped a record 273,810 on Monday. Deaths rose a record 1,619 to 178,769. Delhi goes into lockdown on Monday night. It joins around 13 other states across the country that have decided to impose restrictions, curfews or lockdowns in their cities, including India's richest state of Maharashtra and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, where the industrial city of Ahmedabad is also grappling with a shortage of beds. Criticism has mounted over how Modi's administration has handled India's second wave of the pandemic, with religious festivals and election rallies being attended by thousands. Leaders including Home Minister Amit Shah are set to hold further road shows and public meetings on Monday. Hong Kong late on Sunday said the Asian financial hub will suspend flights from India, Pakistan and the Philippines from Tuesday for two weeks. As of Monday, India had administered nearly 123.9 million vaccine doses, which is the most in the world after the United States and China, though it ranks much lower in per capita vaccination.

Ajay Singh Yadav only managed a final video call with Raj Karan before his close friend became the latest of an alarming number of young Indians, including children, falling victim to the new coronavirus wave sweeping the country. Some doctors say the reason that under-45s are now vulnerable is that they go to work and eat out more, but there is no definitive proof. They could also be more prone to a new “double mutant” variant found in 60% of samples in Maharashtra, the hardest-hit state. Karan, 38, was campaigning in village elections when he fell ill. Yadav rushed him to a hospital, but he too tested positive and was put into isolation. “I am devastated...I could only see him via a video call,” Yadav, 39, said in the northern city of Lucknow. The nation of 1.3bn people has been hit by a new wave that has caused 1mn positive tests in a week, and authorities are rattled. At the start of the year, India thought it had beaten the pandemic and had kicked off a mass vaccination drive. Face masks and social distancing were cast aside and huge crowds flocked to festivals and election rallies. But in hospitals, doctors started warning of a rise in cases, including a new phenomenon - younger patients - for a disease usually viewed as riskier for older adults. In a country where around 65% of the population is under 35, there is growing concern about the impact on the young. New Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has said 65% of new patients are below 45. India’s medical research agency does not have a demographic breakdown of cases, but doctors in major cities confirmed that more young patients are coming to hospitals. “We are also seeing children under the ages of 12 and 15 being admitted with symptoms in the second wave. Last year there were practically no children,” said Khusrav Bajan, a consultant at Mumbai’s P D Hinduja National Hospital and a member of Maharashtra’s Covid-19 taskforce. In Gujarat state, pulmonologist Amit Dave said young people were experiencing “increased severity” from coronavirus for their lungs, hearts and kidneys. One Gujarat hospital has set up the state’s first paediatric coronavirus ward. States across India have reported a similar increase of young patients. In the southern IT hub of Bangalore, under-40s made up 58% of infections in early April, up from 46% last year, data aggregator Covid19india.org said. “I haven’t seen such a rise in cases in the last one year as I’ve seen in the last one week,” Delhi-based book publicist Tanu Dogra, 28, who was bedridden for a week after testing positive in March said. “Everybody on my timeline, on my WhatsApp, is frantically messaging each other because they’ve all tested positive.” In Brazil — which like the rest of the world had more severe cases and deaths among the elderly during the first wave — doctors are also seeing a higher prevalence of younger patients. Experts say more data is needed to back up the anecdotal evidence in India, with genome sequencing of samples playing a key role. “Sequencing will tell you about the mutant that’s emerging,” added virologist Shahid Jameel. “But it doesn’t take away from everything else that you should be doing — that is to wear a mask and avoid crowded places.” Authorities have imposed weekend lockdowns and night curfews to stem the virus spread. But medical professionals say India’s sluggish vaccination drive — currently limited to over-45s — should also opened up to everyone.

More government hospital beds will be freed for Covid-19 patients, India’s health ministry said yesterday, as the vast nation grappled with a worsening virus crisis and states appealed for additional supplies of oxygen and treatment drugs. The country of 1.3bn people added a record-high of 261,500 new cases yesterday, with one-in-six people who underwent tests returning positive coronavirus results, the ministry said. India is the world’s second most-infected nation with almost 14.8mn cases. Hospitals usually reserved for employees of ministries or public sector companies should convert some of their wards into Covid-19 facilities equipped with ICU and oxygen-supported beds, ventilators, laboratories and healthcare staff, the government said. “This will go a long way to address the shortage of beds being reported from some states,” the ministry added. The railway ministry said special trains would transport oxygen tankers to needy states. In the capital New Delhi - the worst-hit city in India - 25,500 infections were reported in the past 24 hours. “The cases are rising very fast,” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said in a video statement. “Only 100 beds left. Even oxygen is in short supply.” Kejriwal said additional beds would be set up at some schools and a sport complex. His government added that millions who attended an ongoing religious festival — the Kumbh Mela — had to quarantine for two weeks if they returned to Delhi. Nearly 3,700 people have tested positive in the past week in the city of Haridwar, which lies along the Ganges river where the Kumbh Mela is being held, the Uttarakhand state government said. Health experts have warned the festival could become a “super-spreader” event. In West Bengal state, where an election is being held over several phases with rival parties holding huge rallies — sparking further super-spreader fears — Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appealed for more oxygen and coronavirus medicines such as remdesivir. Banerjee added that her state needed more vaccines to tackle the outbreak. India has administered more than 122mn jabs so far, but some states have complained of low stocks and experts have said that the rollout needs to be sped up. Both Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party held large election campaigns yesterday. Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress party, a small player in the West Bengal polls, tweeted yesterday that he was suspending all his rallies in the state “in view of the Covid situation”.

Ajay Singh Yadav only managed a final video call with Raj Karan before his close friend became the latest of an alarming number of young Indians, including children, falling victim to the new coronavirus wave sweeping the country. Some doctors say the reason that under-45s are now vulnerable is that they go to work and eat out more, but there is no definitive proof. They could also be more prone to a new "double mutant" variant found in 60 percent of samples in Maharashtra, the hardest-hit state. Karan, 38, was campaigning in village elections when he fell ill. Yadav rushed him to a hospital, but he too tested positive and was put into isolation. "I am devastated... I could only see him via a video call," Yadav, 39, told AFP in the northern city of Lucknow. The nation of 1.3 billion people has been hit by a new wave that has caused one million positive tests in a week, and authorities are rattled. At the start of the year, India thought it had beaten the pandemic and had kicked off a mass vaccination drive. Face masks and social distancing were cast aside and huge crowds flocked to religious festivals and election rallies. But in hospitals, doctors started warning of a rise in cases, including a new phenomenon -- younger patients -- for a disease usually viewed as riskier for older adults. - Children in hospital -In a country where around 65 percent of the population is under 35, there is growing concern about the impact on the young. New Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has said 65 percent of new patients are below 45. India's medical research agency does not have a demographic breakdown of cases, but doctors in major cities confirmed that more young patients are coming to hospitals. "We are also seeing children under the ages of 12 and 15 being admitted with symptoms in the second wave. Last year there were practically no children," said Khusrav Bajan, a consultant at Mumbai's P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and a member of Maharashtra's Covid-19 taskforce. In Gujarat state, pulmonologist Amit Dave said young people were experiencing "increased severity" from coronavirus for their lungs, hearts and kidneys. One Gujarat hospital has set up the state's first paediatric coronavirus ward. States across India have reported a similar increase of young patients. In the southern IT hub of Bangalore, under-40s made up 58 percent of infections in early April, up from 46 percent last year, data aggregator Covid19india.org said. - Variants and vaccines -"I haven't seen such a rise in cases in the last one year as I've seen in the last one week," Delhi-based book publicist Tanu Dogra, 28, who was bedridden for a week after testing positive in March told AFP. "Everybody on my timeline, on my WhatsApp, is frantically messaging each other because they've all tested positive." In Brazil -- which like the rest of the world had more severe cases and deaths among the elderly during the first wave -- doctors are also seeing a higher prevalence of younger patients. Experts say more data is needed to back up the anecdotal evidence in India, with genome sequencing of samples playing a key role. "Sequencing will tell you about the mutant that's emerging," added virologist Shahid Jameel. "But it doesn't take away from everything else that you should be doing -- that is to wear a mask and avoid crowded places." Authorities have imposed weekend lockdowns and night curfews to stem the virus spread. But medical professionals say India's sluggish vaccination drive -- currently limited to over-45s -- should also opened up to everyone. Their call was echoed by young Indians in Delhi, who told AFP they felt more exposed as they had to go to work, many as breadwinners for their families. "Right now young people need (vaccines) more... I see every day that people in their early 30s are getting hospitalised," 25-year-old pharmacist, Muzammil Ahmed, told AFP. With hospitals overwhelmed, specialists like Venkat Ramesh, an infectious disease consultant at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad, said the crisis is already "severe" with worse to come. "When I speak to my colleagues in major metropolitan cities across India, they have numerous calls from patients trying to find a bed," Ramesh told AFP. "I'm quite afraid for the next one month. Given the rapidity of the rise in cases, it is certainly worrying."

New Delhi reported a record 24,000 coronavirus cases in one day and its leader warned of a “grim” battle ahead yesterday as major cities across India went into a weekend lockdown in a bid to curtail a nationwide pandemic surge. With India now leading the world in the number of new cases — more than 2mn in the past month — the international Red Cross said the speed at which cases are rising across South Asia was “truly frightening”. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was impossible to know when the virulent new surge would peak. “The situation is grim and worrisome,” he said, highlighting shortages of oxygen and hospital beds. Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a special pandemic meeting late yesterday after India added another record 234,000 cases — three times the US daily figure — to pass 14.5mn overall as 1,341 more deaths took its pandemic total to 175,649. Modi ordered new measures to find beds and speed up the delivery of oxygen and drugs such as the anti-viral Remdesivir. After a national lockdown last year ago led to an economic slump, the Indian government is desperate to avoid a second stoppage. But Delhi joined Mumbai in ordering all but essential services to close. Landmarks such as the historic Red Fort where tens of thousands of people would normally gather were deserted. Police checked many of the few cars that strayed onto the streets of the city of more than 20mn people where restaurants, malls and gyms were all closed. “Don’t panic. All essential services will be available through the weekend,” Kejriwal said. Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, Gujarat and IT hub Bangalore’s home state Karnataka have also imposed restrictions on movement. Uttar Pradesh state, home to some 240mn people, has ordered a one-day lockdown today. The northern state of Uttarakhand has restricted gatherings to 200 people. It exempted the huge Hindu Kumbh Mela festival in Haridwar but pressure has grown to halt the ritual bathing that has drawn up to 25mn people since January, including some 4.6mn this week alone. More than 1,600 people tested positive for coronavirus in barely three days this week and one of the leading Hindu sects announced that it considered the festival now finished. The latest round of voting also went ahead in the West Bengal state election with long queues forming outside polling stations. Rival parties have been holding huge rallies in recent weeks again fuelling super-spread fears. In the state capital Kolkata, railway employee Samaresh Tapna fell sick after attending one such gathering and was hospitalised. “I felt angry with myself...I cursed my fate,” the 42-year-old said. Hospitals across India have reported growing shortages of oxygen and widely prescribed medicines, prompting desperate people to pay exorbitant black market rates. Social media is full of horror stories of desperate calls to help a loved one needing hospital treatment for Covid-19 or other complaints. “I lost a cousin on Saturday. He was not admitted after a stroke. Tried four hospitals,” read one message on a Delhi neighbourhood WhatsApp group this week. India’s drive to vaccinate its 1.3bn people has also hit obstacles, with just 117mn shots administered so far and stocks running low, according to some local authorities. “This is a wake-up call to the world. Vaccines must be available to everyone, everywhere, rich and poor to overcome this terrible pandemic,” said Udaya Regmi from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), describing the surge across South Asia as “truly frightening”. “We must redouble our efforts to contain this disease as too many lives are at stake,” Regmi added. A worker fills medical oxygen cylinders for hospital use on Covid-19 coronavirus patients at a plant in Allahabad, yesterday.

The global coronavirus death toll was expected to reach three million on Saturday, as the race for immunisation continues and countries like India grapple with rising infections and new lockdowns. The virus that surfaced in late 2019 in central China and the ensuing pandemic has infected more than 100 million people, leaving billions more under crippling lockdowns and ravaging the global economy. India's capital New Delhi went into a weekend lockdown Saturday as the world's second-most populous nation faces more than 200,000 fresh daily cases and families clamouring for drugs and hospital beds. Hopes that South Asian countries might have seen the worst of the pandemic have been dashed, with India recording over two million new cases this month alone and Bangladesh and Pakistan imposing new shutdowns. In Japan, rising virus cases have stoked speculation that the Olympic Games -- postponed last year due to the pandemic -- could be cancelled. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, in his first meeting with US President Joe Biden, said his government was listening to experts and doing its "utmost" to prepare for the Tokyo games in July. "They are doing everything possible to contain infection and to realise safe and secure games from scientific and objective perspectives," Suga told a joint news conference, at which Biden backed Japan's efforts to host the global event. The virus continues to impact events elsewhere in the world. On Saturday, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II bids a final farewell to her late husband, Prince Philip, at a funeral restricted by coronavirus and likely watched by millions from afar. The public has been asked to stay away because of the global pandemic. - 'Cautious optimism' in Europe -In Brazil, the country with the third-highest death toll in the world, night shifts have been added to several cemeteries as diggers work around the clock to bury the dead. One of these is Vila Formosa, the largest cemetery in Latin America and a showcase for the lethal cost of the pandemic in Brazil, where more than 360,000 people have died from Covid-19. Despite the high infection rate, the government of Brazil's most populous state Sao Paulo announced it will allow businesses and places of worship to reopen from Sunday. But there was better news in Europe, where some countries are easing their lockdowns in response to not only fatigue, but falling infection numbers and progress with vaccinations. Italy announced Friday it will ease coronavirus restrictions for schools and restaurants from April 26. Expressing "cautious optimism", Prime Minister Mario Draghi said his government was taking a "calculated risk". Italy will also allow up to a thousand spectators at outdoor events from May 1, when it eases its stadium fan ban in regions less affected by the coronavirus. In more good news for Brits after the partial reopening of society this week, Germany on Friday removed the United Kingdom from the list of risk zones for coronavirus infections, meaning that travellers will no longer need to quarantine upon arrival.

India pledged yesterday to raise monthly production of its own Covid-19 vaccine about tenfold to nearly 100mn doses by September, as immunisations have slowed in the country despite a surge in new infections. After donating and selling tens of millions vaccine doses abroad, India has suddenly found itself short of Covaxin, its only domestically made shot. The government is now trying to raise production at manufacturer Bharat Biotech, and fast-track imports of other vaccines.  The ministry of science and technology, giving the September target, pegged current capacity at 10mn doses a month. “The current production capacity of indigenously developed Covaxin vaccine will be doubled by May-June 2021 and then increased nearly 6-7 fold by July-August,” it said.  The ministry added that the government would provide $17mn in funding to boost Covaxin output. Apart from Bharat Biotech, two state-sector firms — Haffkine Biopharmaceutical and Indian Immunologicals Ltd — will develop a combined monthly capacity of up to 35mn doses in the coming months, under the plan.  India’s daily vaccinations peaked at 4.5mn doses on April 5, as its second wave of infections picked up, but have averaged about 3mn a day since then, according to the government’s Co-Win portal that coordinates immunisations.  The AstraZeneca vaccine, made locally by the Serum Institute of India (SII), accounts for more than 91% of the 115.5mn doses given in the country. But a production ramp-up at SII, the world’s biggest vaccine maker, has been delayed by a raw-material shortage due to US supply restrictions. APPEAL TO BIDEN  SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla appealed directly to US President Joe Biden to end the supply curb, which is aimed at supporting American vaccine companies.  “Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the US, I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw-material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up,” Poonawalla said on Twitter. India has reported the most number of Covid-19 cases in the world this month. Its total of 14.3mn infections since the pandemic began is the most after the United States. India has also recorded 174,308 deaths.  Many vaccination centres in India are now rationing supplies though they are only inoculating people above 45 years, having started the campaign in mid-January with front-line workers. India has administered the most doses in the world after the United States and China, but it ranks much lower per capita.  The government said yesterday the country had a stock of about 26.7mn doses of vaccines. Going by vaccination rates in the past week, that will last about nine days. Mimicker Raju Srivastav (left) and Charlie Chaplin impressionist Rajan Kumar take part in an event organised to spread awareness and safety measures against the spread of Covid-19 coronavirus in Mumbai, yesterday.

The head of the world's largest vaccine maker directly tweeted US President Joe Biden on Friday urging him to lift an export ban on raw materials desperately needed to make more coronavirus shots. The unusual step by Serum Institute (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla underlined the crisis in providing vaccines to developing nations, many of which rely heavily on the firm for supplies. "Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the US, I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up," he tweeted. Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the U.S., I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up. Your administration has the details. ???? — Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) April 16, 2021 There was no immediate response from the US leader on Twitter. The world's biggest vaccine producer by volume, SII has struggled to meet demand for the AstraZeneca jab, which it manufactures, after India put the brakes on allowing exports of the shots as it battles a ferocious second wave. Poonawalla said last week that production was "very stressed" and called on the Indian government to provide it with financial assistance. The company's production of a jab developed by US firm Novavax has also hit roadblocks due to the US restrictions, with Poonawalla telling an Indian newspaper last week that the embargo was "as good as banning vaccines". Developed in record time, the dozen or so Covid-19 vaccines already in use around the world have already triggered an exponential increase in production, meaning raw materials are now running short. SII, which struck a deal to supply 200 million doses to Covax, a World Health Organization-backed effort to procure and distribute inoculations to poor countries, has seen its profile soar since the pandemic, with rich nations also clamouring to buy its jab. But the Covax programme has been hampered by wealthy nations hogging the supply, with the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday criticising the "shocking and expanding disparity in the global distribution of vaccines". The company recorded annual revenues of more than $800 million in 2019-20, but the export ban has prompted it to ask India's government for financial help since New Delhi pays it less per shot than it earns from overseas sales. New Delhi on Friday announced that it would provide financial support to Indian vaccine developer Bharat Biotech, so it could scale up its production of the home-grown Covaxin jab. The government said it aimed to increase production capacity to nearly 100 million doses a month by September. India, which has recorded over 14 million infections since the start of the pandemic, began vaccinating people aged over 45 this month, aiming to inoculate 300 million people by August. So far it has administered around 117 million shots.

 * Vaccinations peaked at 4.5 million doses on April 5 * Inoculations have averaged about 3 million a day since then * Vaccine maker appeals to Biden to lift raw-material export ban India's daily Covid-19 vaccinations have slowed from their peak early this month while new infections have set a record, government data showed on Friday, as its main producer of shots urged the United States to end a ban on raw material exports. After giving and selling tens of millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses abroad, India has suddenly found itself short of the drug. It has abruptly changed rules to allow it to fast-track vaccine imports, having earlier rebuffed foreign drugmakers like Pfizer. Vaccinations peaked at 4.5 million doses on April 5 but have averaged about 3 million a day since then, according to the government's Co-Win portal to coordinate immunisations. The AstraZeneca vaccine, locally made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), accounts for more than 91% of the 115.5 million doses given in the country. But production ramp-up at SII, the world's biggest vaccine maker, has been delayed by a raw-material shortage. SII Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla directly appealed to US President Joe Biden to end the supply curb, which is aimed at supporting American vaccine companies, after diplomatic efforts made little progress. "Respected @POTUS, if we are to truly unite in beating this virus, on behalf of the vaccine industry outside the US, I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the US so that vaccine production can ramp up," Poonawalla said on Twitter. India has reported the most number of coronavirus cases in the world this month. Its total of 14.3 million is the most after the United States, with 174,308 deaths. Many vaccination centres in India are now rationing supplies though it is only inoculating people above 45 years, having started the campaign in mid-January with front-line workers. It has administered the most doses in the world after the United States and China, but it ranks much lower per capita. Many states have sought an expansion of the immunisation drive to include all adults, but the government has said doses are "finite". The government said on Friday the country had a stock of about 30 million doses. Going by its vaccination trend in the past week, that will be enough for 10 days. India this week gave emergency authorisation to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and imports to cover as many as 125 million people will start this month. The government has also urged Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson to sell their shots to India. It has also allowed biomedical research body Haffkine Institute, based in the state of Maharashtra, to produce the home-grown shot Covaxin as developer Bharat Biotech struggles to boost its output.

India extended a record daily run of new Covid-19 infections on Friday, spurred by hundreds of positive tests at a major religious gathering, as politicians pushed ahead with election rallies against advice they could worsen the outbreak. India is battling a massive second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with new restrictions imposed in Mumbai, New Delhi and other cities. There are also growing calls for officials to speed up the country's vaccination programme as hospitals are swamped with patients. The 217,353 new cases reported by the health ministry on Friday marked the eighth record daily increase in the last nine days and took total cases to nearly 14.3 million. India's case count is second only to the United States, which has reported more than 31 million infections. Deaths in India rose by 1,185 over the past 24 hours - the highest single-day rise in seven months - to reach a total of 174,308, the health ministry reported. Experts have raised concerns about the spread of more contagious and deadlier variants of the disease, particularly given widespread participation in religious festivals and political rallies. A Lancet study this month estimated that India's fatalities could double by June. ‘The biggest fight we have is in the society ... Over a period of time, people have adopted a casual approach,’ Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said at New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences on Friday. Several senior leaders and opposition lawmakers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress's Rahul Gandhi, have been holding large rallies for supporters amid elections in five regions, including West Bengal. Visuals from the rallies have shown thousands of mask-less people crowded together and chanting slogans as they listen to speeches from politicians, in clear violation of social distancing and other Covid-19 norms. Interior Minister Amit Shah was scheduled to hold public meetings and roadshows in West Bengal on Friday. Meanwhile, hundreds of people at a religious gathering in Haridwar in the north of the country tested positive for Covid-19 as tens of thousands of devout pilgrims jostled to take a holy dip in the Ganges. The weeks-long ‘Kumbh Mela’ festival, where ascetics bathe to wash away their sins, began earlier this month and officials have warned they expect cases to rise significantly. One local official called it a ‘super-spreader’ event. VACCINE PROGRAMME India has so far injected 115 million vaccine doses, the highest globally after the United States and China, but that covers only a small fraction of its 1.4 billion people. In the heat of the latest wave of infections, India has shifted from being a mass vaccine exporter to a major importer. Officials abruptly changed the rules to allow vaccine imports to be fast-tracked, having earlier rebuffed foreign drugmakers like Pfizer. It will import Russia's Sputnik V vaccine starting this month to cover as many as 125 million people. India is also seeking to inoculate more of its population using domestically produced shots. India on Thursday gave approval to the Haffkine Institute in the western Maharashtra state to begin producing Bharat Biotech's COVAXIN shot, a move that is expected to help ease supply bottlenecks. The country is currently administering COVAXIN and AstraZeneca's vaccine, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and branded Covishield.    

Many Indian hospitals were scrambling for beds and oxygen as Covid-19 infections surged to a new daily record yesterday, with a second wave of infections centred on Maharashtra. Experts blamed everything from official complacency to aggressive variants. The government blamed a widespread failure to practise physical distancing and wear face masks. “The situation is horrible,” said Avinash Gawande, an official at a government hospital in Nagpur that was battling a flood of patients, as were hospitals in neighbouring Gujarat state and New Delhi in the north. “We are a 900-bed hospital, but there are about 60 patients waiting and we don’t have space for them.” Maharashtra, home to the financial capital of Mumbai, began a lockdown at midnight, a move that spurred a rush to stockpile essential items in advance. At Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital in New Delhi, the country’s largest facility treating Covid-19 patients, two or three patients were seen sharing single beds in some wards as overworked doctors attended to them. Covid-positive patients – from a one-and-a-half-year-old toddler to many elderly – and their relatives kept streaming in to the emergency ward at LNJP, arriving by ambulance, cars or auto-rickshaws through the day. “Last year also we have not seen such a bad situation. This time the number is very high and increasing very rapidly, going (at a) very fast speed, so the situation is really alarming,” said LNJP Medical Director Suresh Kumar. “We are definitely overburdened...Today we have 158 admissions in Lok Nayak alone. All sick patients, all severe patients,” Kumar added. Despite injecting about 114mn vaccine doses, the highest figure worldwide after the US and China, India has covered only a small part of its 1.4bn people. India yesterday said regulators would decide on emergency-use applications for foreign Covid-19 vaccines within three working days, as it tries to attract Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna to sell their shots. In New Delhi, authorities ordered a weekend curfew, placing curbs on shopping malls, gyms, restaurants and some weekly markets. Outside a major city mortuary, weeping relatives gathered in the hot sun, waiting for the bodies of loved ones to be released. Daily virus cases double to 200,000 in 10 days India’s daily coronavirus caseload has doubled in 10 days, with a record 200,000 new infections logged yesterday. Having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and crowds at cricket matches, India is experiencing a vicious second wave, recording almost 2mn fresh infections this month alone. Many states are now tightening the screws, in particular Maharashtra. The capital New Delhi on Thursday became the latest to impose a weekend curfew and ordering shopping malls, gyms and spas to stay shut from today evening. Late yesterday, the ministry of culture said that all major monuments, including India’s top tourist attraction the Taj Mahal, would be shut until April 15 amid the surge.

India reported a record 200,000 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday and the financial hub of Mumbai entered a lockdown, as many hospitals treating coronavirus patients reported severe shortages of beds and oxygen supplies. The surge was the seventh record daily increase in the last eight days and comes as India battles a massive second wave of infections that has its epicentre in the economically significant state of Maharashtra, home to Mumbai. The western state accounts for about a quarter of the country's total cases. India reported 200,739 Covid-19 cases over the last 24 hours, according to health ministry data released Thursday. Deaths stood at 1,038, taking the total to 173,123. The total case load reached 14.1 million, only second to the United States, which leads the global tally with 31.4 million cases. Hospitals and doctors in Maharashtra as well other regions including Gujarat and Delhi in the north reported chaotic scenes as healthcare facilities were overwhelmed with a surge in admissions of Covid-19 patients. ‘The situation is horrible. We are a 900-bed hospital, but there are about 60 patients waiting and we don't have space for them,’ said Avinash Gawande, an official at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur, a commercial hub in Maharashtra. Hospitals in other places including Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, reported oxygen shortages. ‘If such conditions persist, the death toll will rise,’ the head of a medical body in Ahmedabad wrote in a letter to the Gujarat state chief minister. India's government said the country was producing oxygen at its full capacity everyday for the last two days and it had boosted output. ‘Along with the ramped up production of the oxygen manufacturing units and the surplus stocks available, the present availability of oxygen is sufficient,’ the health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still thronged to a religious festival in the north of the country on Wednesday, stoking fears of a new surge in Covid-19 cases in the region. In capital Delhi, too, daily Covid-19 cases are hitting new records, with doctors warning the surge could be deadlier than in 2020. ‘This virus is more infectious and virulent .... We have 35-year olds with pneumonia in intensive care, which was not happening last year,’ said Dhiren Gupta, a paediatrician at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in New Delhi. ‘The situation is chaotic.’    

Top intelligence officers from India and Pakistan held secret talks in Dubai in January in a new effort to calm military tension over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, people with close knowledge of the matter told Reuters in Delhi. Ties between the nuclear-armed rivals have been on ice since a suicide bombing of an Indian military convoy in Kashmir in 2019 traced to Pakistan-based militants that led to India sending warplanes to Pakistan. Pakistan shot down one of the jets, captured the evicting pilot, but later returned it to India as a peace gesture. Later that year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew Indian-ruled Kashmir’s autonomy in order to tighten his grip over the territory, provoking outrage in Pakistan and the downgrading of diplomatic ties and suspension of bilateral trade. But the two governments have reopened a back channel of diplomacy aimed at a modest roadmap to normalising ties over the next several months, the people said. Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan, both of which claim all of the region but rule only in part. Officials from India’s Research and Analysis Wing, the external spy agency, and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence travelled to Dubai for a meeting facilitated by the United Arab Emirates government, two people said. The Indian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Pakistan’s military, which controls the ISI, also did not respond. But Ayesha Siddiqa, a top Pakistani defence analyst, said she believed Indian and Pakistan intelligence officials had been meeting for several months in third countries. “I think there have been meetings in Thailand, in Dubai, in London between the highest level people,” she said. Such meetings have taken place in the past too, especially during times of crises but never been publicly acknowledged. “There is a lot that can still go wrong, it is fraught,” said one of the people in Delhi. “That is why nobody is talking it up in public, we don’t even have a name for this, it’s not a peace process. You can call it a re-engagement,” one of them said. Both countries have reasons to seek a rapprochement. India has been locked in a border stand-off with China since last year and does not want the military stretched on the Pakistan front. China-ally Pakistan, mired in economic difficulties and on an IMF bailout programme, can ill-afford heightened tensions on the Kashmir border for a prolonged period, experts say. It also has to stabilise the Afghan border on its west as the United States withdraws. “It’s better for India and Pakistan to talk than not talk, and even better that it should be done quietly than in a glare of publicity,” said Myra MacDonald, a former Reuters journalist who has just published a book on India, Pakistan and war on the frontiers of Kashmir. “...But I don’t see it going very far beyond a basic management of tensions, possibly to tide both countries over a difficult period — Pakistan needs to address the fall-out of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, while India has to confront a far more volatile situation on its disputed frontier with China.” Following the January meeting, India and Pakistan announced they would stop cross-border shooting along the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir which has left dozens of civilians dead and many others maimed. That ceasefire is holding, military officials in both countries said. Both sides have also signalled plans to hold elections on their sides of Kashmir this year as part of efforts to bring normalcy to a region riven by decades of bloodshed. The two have also agreed to dial down their rhetoric, the people Reuters spoke to said. This would include Pakistan dropping its loud objections to Modi abrogating Kashmir’s autonomy in August 2019, while Delhi, in turn, would refrain from blaming Pakistan for all violence on its side of the Line of Control. These details have not been previously reported. India has long blamed Pakistan for the revolt in Kashmir, an allegation denied by Pakistan. “There is a recognition there will be attacks inside Kashmir, there has been discussions as to how to deal with it and not let this effort derailed by the next attack,” one of the people said. There is as yet, however, no grand plan to resolve the 74-year-old Kashmir dispute. Rather both sides are trying to reduce tensions to pave the way for a broad engagement, all the people Reuters spoke to said. “Pakistan is transiting from a geo-strategic domain to a geo-economic domain,” Raoof Hasan, special assistant to Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, told Reuters. “Peace, both within and around with its neighbours, is a key constituent to facilitate that.”

India’s new coronavirus infections hit a record level yesterday with Mumbai set to be locked down at midnight, but hundreds of thousands of pilgrims still thronged to a religious festival in the north of the country. The country reported 184,372 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, taking total infections to 13.9 million. Deaths rose by 1,027, for a toll of 172,085. After reporting less than 10,000 cases per day earlier this year, India has been the world’s worst-hit country since April 2. The government blames a widespread failure to heed curbs on movement and social interaction among the population of 1.39 billion people. The rise in cases comes as India’s richest state, Maharashtra, the epicentre of the national second wave, is due to enter a full lockdown at midnight (1830 GMT) until the end of April to contain the spread of the virus. The state accounts for about a quarter of the country’s total coronavirus cases. India’s commercial capital Mumbai was bustling with shoppers, stocking up before the lockdown comes into effect. “We don’t know if we will be allowed to set up our stalls from tomorrow, so we’re asking our customers to stock up as much as possible today,” said Susheela, a street vegetable vendor, who goes by only her first name. There were snaking lines outside many grocery stores as residents waited to enter. Elsewhere, over-stretched private hospitals are turning patients away, placing an increasing burden on government facilities. In the western state of Gujurat, a Reuters witness saw a long queue of ambulances waiting outside Ahmedabad Civil Hospital yesterday, with some patients being treated there while they waited. “My wife tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. We called an ambulance this morning to bring her to hospital as she was facing difficulty in breathing,” Becharbhai Waghela, who was accompanying his wife Shantaben, 61, told Reuters. “We have been waiting in the ambulance outside the hospital campus for the last two hours.” A hospital source, who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak publicly, said a lot of private hospitals were short of oxygen and were sending their patients to public hospitals. Chhattisgarh state — one of several hinterland regions struggling with a surge in cases — set up a temporary 370-bed hospital in an indoor stadium. “The way Covid-19 cases are rising and people are getting hypoxia or low level of oxygen in the blood, there is a shortage of oxygen supply,” said Avinash Chaturvedi, a doctor at the facility. “We have converted this stadium into a Covid care centre to deal with that situation.” Despite this, hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus gathered to bathe in the Ganges river in the northern city of Haridwar yesterday, the third major bathing day of the weeks-long Kumbh Mela festival. Sanjay Gunjyal, the inspector general of police at the festival, said around 650,000 people had bathed yesterday morning. “People are being fined for not following social distancing in non-crowded ghats (bathing areas), but it is very hard to fine people in the main ghats, which are very crowded,” he said. There was little evidence of social distancing or mask-wearing, according to a Reuters witness. More than a thousand cases have been reported in Haridwar district in the last two days, according to government data. Johnson to cut visit British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will shorten his delayed visit to India later this month, his first major bilateral foreign visit since taking power in 2019, his office said yesterday. The trip was originally set for January and heralded as an opportunity for Britain to refocus its international trade policy in the wake of Brexit as it pursues a so-called “global Britain” strategy. But spiking coronavirus deaths at home caused the delay and now rising cases in India have led to Johnson shorten the three-day visit, which starts April 26. “We’ve been in close contact with the Indian government about the visit in light of the Covid situation,” Johnson’s spokesman said.    

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) exams for Class 10 have been cancelled and the exams for Class 12 postponed in view of the exponential spike in Covid-19 cases across the country, Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced on Wednesday. The decision was taken in a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday afternoon here amid demand from students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders to cancel it. Considering the resurgence of the pandemic and school closures and also taking in account the safety and well-being of students, the Ministry of Education said that a decision was taken to defer the Class 12 board exams and cancel the Class 10 exams. The CBSE Board exams were scheduled to be held from May 4 to June 7 and the results were to be announced by July 15. ‘The Board Exams for Class Xth to be held from 4th May to June 14th, 2021 are hereby cancelled. The results of Class Xth Board will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the Board,’ Nishank tweeted. ‘Any candidate who is not satisfied with the marks allocated to him or her on this basis, will be given an opportunity to sit in an exam as and when the conditions are conducive to hold the exams,’ the Minister said. Nishank further said that the Class 12 exams will be held later, and the situation will be reviewed on June 1 by the CBSE. He also ensured that details regarding the plan will be shared subsequently. ‘A notice of at least 15 days will be given before the start of the examinations.’ The Minister mentioned that the decision was taken after Prime Minister Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the examinations to be held at various levels in view of the developing Corona situation. Besides Nishank, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Cabinet Secretary, School and Higher Education Secretaries and other top officials attended the meeting. The Prime Minister reiterated that the well-being of the students has to be the top priority for the government. He also stated that the Centre would keep in mind the best interests of the students and ensure that their health is taken care of at the same time their academic interests are not harmed. The chorus for cancellation of upcoming board exams for class 10 and 12 grew louder on Tuesday in the wake of the exponential rise in Covid-19 cases. The country is seeing a resurgence of Covid-19 positive cases in many states, with a few states having been affected more than others. In this situation, schools have been shut down in 11 states. Unlike state Boards, CBSE has an all-India character, and therefore, it is essential to hold exams simultaneously throughout the country.    

India's new coronavirus infections reached a record on Wednesday, as crowds of pilgrims gathered for a religious festival despite oxygen shortages and strict curbs in other areas. The country reported 184,372 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, taking total infections to 13.9 million. Deaths rose by 1,027, for a toll of 172,085. After reporting less than 10,000 cases per day earlier this year, India has been the world's worst-hit country since April 2. The government blames a widespread failure to heed curbs on movement and social interaction. India's richest state, Maharashtra, the epicentre of the national second wave, accounting for about a quarter of the country's cases, is due to enter a full lockdown at midnight local time (1830GMT) until the end of April to try to contain the spread. On Wednesday the state's commercial centre, Mumbai, was bustling with shoppers, stocking up before the lockdown comes into effect. "We don't know if we will be allowed to set up our stalls from tomorrow, so we're asking our customers to stock up as much as possible today," said Susheela, a street vegetable vendor, who goes by only her first name. There were snaking lines outside many grocery stores as residents waited to enter. Elsewhere, over-stretched private hospitals are turning patients away, placing an increasing burden on government facilities. In the western state of Gujurat, local media showed a long queue of ambulances waiting outside Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, with some patients being treated there while they waited. A hospital source, who declined to be named as he is not authorised to speak publicly, said a lot of private hospitals were short of oxygen and were sending their patients to the public hospital. Still, hundreds of thousands of devout Hindus gathered to bathe in the Ganges river on Wednesday, the third day of the weeks-long Kumbh Mela festival. Sanjay Gunjyal, the inspector general of police at the festival, said around 650,000 people had bathed on Wednesday morning. "People are being fined for not following social distancing in non-crowded ghats (bathing areas), but it is very hard to fine people in the main ghats, which are very crowded," he said. There was little evidence of social distancing or mask-wearing, according to a Reuters witness. More than a thousand cases have been reported in Haridwar district in the last two days, according to government data.

India is to fast-track emergency approvals for Covid-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, follows the world’s biggest surge in cases in the country this month. India has the biggest vaccine manufacturing capacity in the world and had exported tens of millions of doses before its own demand skyrocketed and led to a shortage in some states. Its need for imports would be a blow to dozens of poor countries that had relied on the country to run their inoculation drives. India’s health ministry said vaccines authorised by the World Health Organisation or authorities in the US, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan “may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial”. “If any of these regulators have approved a vaccine, the vaccine is now ready to be brought into the country for use, manufacture and fill-and-finish,” Vinod Kumar Paul, a senior government health official, told a news conference. “We hope and we invite the vaccine makers such as Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and others...to be ready to come to India as early as possible.” Pfizer said it would work towards bringing its vaccine to India after withdrawing its application in February. India has administered more than 108mn doses, sold more than 54.6mn vaccine doses abroad and gifted more than 10mn to partner countries. It is currently using the AstraZeneca shot and a homegrown vaccine for its own immunisation drive, and this week approved Russia’s Sputnik V shot for emergency use. Since April 2, India has reported the world’s highest daily tallies of infections, exceeding 100,000 for the first time last week. It reported 161,736 cases on Tuesday, taking the total to 13.7mn. Deaths rose by 879 to 171,058. The jump in infections, for which Health Minister Harsh Vardhan acknowledged widespread failure to heed curbs on movement and social interaction, has prompted calls for the government to cancel huge public events. Concerns of a spike in cases were sparked by mass election rallies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party and opposition groups during polls in four states and one federally run region. At one rally in the eastern state of West Bengal, a key political prize, Home Minister Amit Shah posted Twitter pictures of meetings with crowds of supporters while unmasked. The second wave of infections, which began in India’s major cities, is increasingly spreading into the hinterland, where healthcare facilities are often rudimentary. In Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh state known for its large tribal population, the main government hospital’s morgue was struggling to keep up, said joint director Dr Vineet Jain. “All oxygenated and ICU beds are full in our set-up,” he said. “Around 50 dead bodies are laying, we have a shortage of space.”