Covid-19 Wrap-up: India sees fall in cases for second consecutive day

Tuesday was a day of mixed emotions, a myriad of highs and lows as India continued its battle with the second wave of coronavirus. While the country recorded a dip in new Covid-19 cases for the second consecutive day, it also witnessed several bodies being fished out of the Ganga, this time in Uttar Pradesh, two days in a row.

The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections in India fell to 3.29 lakh after 14 days, taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 2,29,92,517, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday. A total of 3,29,942 infections were reported in a span of 24 hours, while the death toll climbed to 2,49,992 with 3,876 fresh fatalities, data updated at 8 am showed.

Grim news surfaced from Goa early in the day, as oxygen shortage led to 26 deaths in four hours at the Goa Medical College. Health Minister Vishwajit Rane sought a probe into the deaths. Goa is facing an unprecedented Covid surge over the last two months. The state currently has 32,262 active Covid cases while 1,729 persons have died in the state since the outbreak.

The BS Yediyurappa administration in Karnataka finalised its plan to procure 2 crore Covid-19 vaccines through a global tender, with the chief minister maintaining that there was no need for citizens to worry even amid shortage of doses.

The Telangana government decided to impose a 10-day lockdown in the state, starting May 12, to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. The health minister of neighbouring Karnataka, meanwhile, urged the Centre to allow states to use locally-produced oxygen.

Even as states across the country continued to grapple with rising number of cases and deaths, some good news came in from 'God's Own Country'. Edamalakkudy, a remote village in the hilly district of Idukki in Kerala, has achieved the rare distinction of being the only panchayat in the state to keep Covid-19 at bay. The first tribal panchayat of Kerala, Edamalakkudy has zero Covid cases so far.

However, not all rural areas have been able to replicate such success. While Uttar Pradesh has recorded a decline in the number of Covid cases, especially in bigger towns, the suspected spread of the infection in rural areas has set alarm bells ringing. There are reports that scores of people with complaints of cough and cold, fever and breathlessness have died at several villages in the eastern, central and western districts of the state.

Uttar Pradesh also made headlines after dozens of bodies were found floating in the Ganga in Ballia and Ghazipur districts of the state. This comes a day after heart-wrenching images of a similar incident emerged from the Buxar district of Bihar.

It was business, as usual, in the political circles. The slugfest between the BJP and the Congress continued on Tuesday, with saffron party chief JP Nadda writing an open letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Kerala MP Rahul Gandhi hit back, asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to remove his "rose-tinted glasses", through which he can see nothing but the Central Vista project.

Meanwhile, noted economist Jean Dreze said India might be heading towards a "serious livelihood crisis" as the situation seemed to be worse this time for the working class. Rising cases and local restrictions by states already added up to something close to a nationwide lockdown, he said.

On the vaccination front, the Centre appealed to states on Tuesday to prioritise inoculating those due for the second dose and reserve at least 70 per cent of the shots supplied from the central pool for the purpose. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in the meantime, suggested that the Centre share the formula of Covid-19 vaccines developed by two manufacturers with other pharma companies to ramp up production.

In a bizarre development, some believers in Gujarat are crowding cow shelters to take 'cow dung therapy' once a week in the hope that it will boost their immunity against, or help them recover from, coronavirus. Amusing pictures from the Shree Swaminarayan Gurukul Vishwavidya Pratishthanam Gaushala in Ahmedabad have now gone viral.