3,780 Covid deaths, highest in India in 24 hours

India reported a record 3,780 deaths on Tuesday, the highest daily toll since the pandemic began. Over 900 deaths were from Maharashtra, while Delhi and Uttar Pradesh reported 338 and 351, respectively. At least 13 states are reporting more than 100 deaths a day. These include previously uncounted deaths from earlier days, reports The Indian Express.

The country reported 3.82 lakh cases of the novel coronavirus in the 24 hours ending 9 am Wednesday. Of these, Maharashtra recorded 51,880 cases, while Karnataka reported 44,631. Active cases are now more than 34.87 lakh.

As India continues to report over three lakh Covid-19 cases a day, several states are still flagging a shortage of oxygen supply. The Haryana government told the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday that several lives would be lost if it didn’t receive timely supply of oxygen; the Maharashtra government and Mumbai’s civic body BMC wrote separately to the Centre requesting enhanced allocation of oxygen; and 41 hospitals in New Delhi with 7,000 patients raised alarm bells on a single day on May 3.

The central government on Monday told the Gujarat High Court that not only was it augmenting supply within India, but also “importing oxygen from other countries using diplomatic channels… personal intervention of the political executive”. It said it had allocated 8,410 MT of oxygen to 22 high-burden states against a demand of 8,462 MT.

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday observed that the “death of Covid patients just for non-supplying of oxygen to the hospitals is a criminal act and not less than a genocide” by those responsible for ensuring the continuous procurement and supply.

Meanwhile, production has come to a halt in the country’s largest oxygen cylinder manufacturing units as they were included in the ban on use of industrial oxygen. Despite a clarification from the Centre, the ban is yet to be lifted by the Gujarat government.