India’s Hell Continues: Record Number of COVID-19 Deaths, New Infections

By Staff, Agencies 

India saw almost 4,000 COVID-19 deaths and more than 412,000 new cases in the past 24 hours, both new records, official data showed Thursday.

Health ministry numbers showed 3,980 deaths, taking the total to 230,168, and 412,262 new cases, bringing India's caseload since the pandemic began to 21.1 million.

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that the South Asian nation home to around 1.4 billion people, or 18 percent of the world's population, accounted for 46 percent of global coronavirus cases and 25 percent of global deaths reported last week.

The dramatic outbreak has put the hospitals in the country under intense pressure, with oxygen supplies running out.
India's authorities argue, however, that while the supplies were enough to handle the pandemic, the distribution was lagging behind due to flawed logistics.

With no end in sight to the coronavirus crisis in the country, the US State Department said on Wednesday that it had approved the voluntary departure of non-emergency government workers from India.