Covid-19 Wrap-up: India reports biggest single-day spike with more than 3.6 lakh fresh cases

Crematoria are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. Fires burn around the clock. Many places are holding mass cremations, dozens at a time, and at night, in certain areas of New Delhi, the sky glows. Sickness and death are everywhere.

Ambulances continue to line up for hours to take Covid-19 victims to makeshift crematorium facilities in parks and parking lots, where bodies are burned on rows of funeral pyres.

A tragic tale has become repetitive in the national capital - a scramble for hospital beds and oxygen that lead to nowhere, innumerable lives lost.

The country as a whole saw a record single-day rise of more than 3.6 lakh fresh Covid-19 cases and 3,293 deaths, according to Union Health Ministry data. The nation's death toll crossed the grim mark of two lakh while active cases crossed the 29-lakh mark.

The Delhi High Court said it appeared that the Centre wanted people to die as according to the new protocol on the use of Remdesivir for Covid-19 treatment, the drug was to be given only to those on oxygen support.

There's a bizarre story that's come in amid surging Covid-19 cases in Karnataka. Revenue Minister R Ashoka claimed that about 3,000 infected people had "gone missing" from Bengaluru and were spreading the disease. He said that most of the infected people had switched off their phones. At least two districts in the state — Bengaluru and Kalaburagi — have reported the presence of the double mutant Covid-19 variant.

Oxygen continues to be the most precious of commodities in our strange, new world. The country's fertiliser companies will soon supply 50 tonnes of medical oxygen per day to meet the surging demand. A man fired three bullets from his revolver into the ground during a clash between two groups who had assembled to refill oxygen cylinders at a plant in Gujarat's Kutch district.

Some quick intervention from staff saved the lives of 14 patients on oxygen support in the Parbhani district hospital in Maharashtra as the pipeline supplying the life-saving gas developed a leak after a branch from a tree fell on it.

Ahead of Phase 3 of the country's Covid-19 vaccination drive, many people faced issues registering on the government apps - Co-WIN and Aarogya Setu - as people aged 18 and above flocked to list themselves for the jabs. Concerned about its Covid-19 vaccine supplies, the Maharashtra government has decided not to begin inoculations for ages 18 to 44 from May 1.

In some welcome vaccine news, the Serum Institute of India - the maker of the most used Covid-19 vaccine in the nation - announced a price cut in the jab it plans to sell to the states. The price was reduced to Rs 300 per dose from the earlier Rs 400 per dose.

Goa is the latest state that has chosen to impose a strict lockdown to fight Covid-19, which will run from April 29 till May 3, according to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) will continue as scheduled, a senior BCCI official said, despite fierce criticism of the popular T20 competition being played amid a national health crisis. The senior BCCI official said that cricket was providing important solace and entertainment to many people during hard times. Following Pat Cummins's lead, former Australian pacer Brett Lee donated one Bitcoin, valued at Rs 40.45 lakh, to aid India in its fight against Covid-19. Lee donated the money specifically to buy oxygen supplies for hospitals across the country.