India's new crown epidemic is becoming more and more serious, the Indian Ministry of Health released data on the 24th, in the past 24 hours, India's new single-day new confirmed cases reached 346787 cases, breaking the world's highest single-day record, the third consecutive day at a high level. The cumulative number of confirmed cases exceeded 16.5 million, ranking only behind the United States. There were 2,624 new deaths, with a cumulative death of about 190,000.
Reuters said that India under the epidemic may become a "purgatory on earth".
Screenshot of ThePrint news network report
Indian media reported that India is facing the second wave of the new crown epidemic, and the virus has appeared "triple variant" after the "double variant". Madurka Pai, a professor of epidemiology in India, said a triple variant strain had been discovered in India and could spread faster.
A new outbreak has nearly crushed India's healthcare system, and oxygen shortages are on the rise. India's Economic Times said that in order to obtain more oxygen supply, some local governments in India even intercept oxygen trucks in transit.
Germany claims that many of India's large hospitals have posted notices that they cannot continue to receive patients. Hospitals in northern and western India, including New Delhi, have also issued warnings that their oxygen for patients is only enough to last for hours.
New Delhi TV reported that on the evening of the 23rd local time, 20 new crown patients died due to insufficient medical oxygen. Another hospital chose to call Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for help via social media, and more than 130 patients need oxygen to sustain themselves.
Families of COVID-19 patients in India wait in line to renew oxygen tanks. Source: Deutsche Welle
Foreign media reported that there have been cases of volume pressure on the remains of deceased patients in many crematoriums in India, and even cremation sites and firewood are in short supply. Some crematoriums have seen their number of remains rise fivefold in recent weeks and have had to wait in line for cremation.
Al Jazeera said that India's capital New Delhi reported more than 26,000 new confirmed cases and 306 deaths on the 23rd, which means that one person dies of new crown pneumonia every five minutes.
Indian congress leader Rahul Gandhi has tweeted for two days questioning how many people's lives the Modi government has put people's lives in, "no testing reagents, no vaccines, no oxygen, no ICU." Gandhi said that in the COVID-19 crisis, the Modi government has given priority to inviting relevant companies to bid for "vision projects" and build three secretariat buildings.
"The current predicament is unbearable!" Gandhi called on the Modi government to focus on COVID-19 vaccines, oxygen and other health services rather than on unnecessary items. Gandhi expected the crisis to continue to worsen, and India must be prepared for it.
As one of the "four-country mechanisms", India's ally, the United States, not only refused the request to lift the ban on raw material imports for India, but also secretly criticized India for not having a sense of the overall situation.
Indian media said on the 23rd that US State Department spokesman Ned Price defended the US ban on the export of vaccine raw materials, saying that the primary obligation of the Biden administration is to meet the requirements of the American people, "Americans are not only in our interests, but also in the interests of other parts of the world." ”
On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference that the covid-19 pandemic is the common enemy of all mankind, and the international community needs to unite and fight the epidemic together. China is willing to provide necessary support and assistance to India in controlling the epidemic.
The Times of India wrote on Friday under the headline "China is willing to help, but India is looking elsewhere for oxygen" that China is willing to provide necessary support and assistance for India to control the epidemic, but Indian official sources said that China is not currently among the source countries for India to seek oxygen imports, and India's potential oxygen importers are mainly Singapore and the Gulf countries.
Screenshot of Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tweeting
Pakistan is also interested in helping India. On Pakistani social media, the topic of #PakistanstandswithIndia (Pakistan and India stand together) continues to heat up.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed his solidarity with the Indian people on Twitter on the 24th. Pakistan's charitable organization Edhi Welfare Trust also sent a letter to Modi on the 22nd that it will send a convoy of 50 ambulances and support personnel to India.
But at present, the Indian side has not yet responded.