Covid-19 Wrap-up: BJP MP, MLAs unearth bed-blocking racket in Bengaluru

In a time of desperation, suffering and death, some crimes are particularly heinous. Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya and BJP MLAs Satish Reddy, L A Ravi Subramanya and Uday Garudachar stumbled upon a well-oiled racket at the BBMP war rooms where beds are blocked in hospitals in the names of asymptomatic patients and later "sold" to symptomatic patients for Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000.

A record number of 3,780 Covid-19 deaths were registered in a single day taking the death toll over 2.2 lakh while more than 3.8 lakh new Covid-19 infections were recorded, according to Union Health Ministry data.

Goa has the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in the country, with up to one in every two people testing positive in recent weeks, government officials said.

Warning that the healthcare infrastructure in the country "appears to be on the verge of a breakdown," the National Human Rights Commission urged the government to look at the option of making Covid-19 vaccinations free and universal and to ensure the "continuous, rapid and seamless" supply of oxygen and medicines.

The government said that a third wave of the pandemic was "inevitable" although a time frame for it could not be predicted.

The oxygen crisis continues to claim lives and is a tragic, terrifying new normal of our times.

Five Covid-19 patients, including a woman, died at a private hospital in Roorkee in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar district allegedly due to a disruption in oxygen supply to the facility for around 30 minutes. The crisis deepened in parts of Karnataka, with the deaths of seven Covid-19 patients in Kalaburagi and Belagavi allegedly due to oxygen shortage. Two patients at Arka Hospital in Bengaluru's Yelahanka also died, even as SOS messages flooded Twitter in the wee hours seeking the life-saving gas. Five Covid-19 patients breathed their last in the ICU of the Lifeline Hospital in Hubballi, even as relatives of the deceased alleged that the deaths occurred due to an oxygen shortage.

The Karnataka High Court directed the Union Government to submit whether it could ad hoc increase the quota of oxygen to the state. Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri rubbished the allegation made by Chamarajnagar Deputy Commissioner M R Ravi that she controlled the oxygen supply to the southern district.

Terming the deaths of Covid-19 patients owing to oxygen shortage in hospitals a "criminal act", the Allahabad high court lambasted the UP government and said that it was "not less than a genocide by those who have been entrusted the task to ensure the continuous procurement and supply chain of the liquid medical oxygen".

Denial is everywhere. As many as 13 people died at a Government Hospital in Tamil Nadu's Chengalpattu in a span of 24 hours, with their relatives alleging a shortage of oxygen, a charge stoutly denied by officials.

At least two people were killed and several were injured after a blast occurred at an oxygen plant in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.

To reduce the load on laboratories processing Covid-19 swabs, the Centre announced new guidelines for testing.

Pharma major Roche and Regeneron received Emergency Use Authorisation from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation for its antibody cocktail Casirivimab and Imdevimab in India.

Cricket authorities in Australia, New Zealand and England rushed to evacuate top players from India after the Indian Premier League was abandoned following a number of Covid-19 cases within the tournament's bio-bubbles.

Two members of a small delegation accompanying External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to the UK have tested positive for Covid-19, forcing him to rework his official schedule.