From The Newsroom: SC asks Centre, states to mull lockdown as Covid-19 second wave worsens

In your evening news brief, Supreme Court tells Centre, states to consider lockdown to curb the second Covid-19 wave; medical interns to be deployed for Covid-19 duties; and 24 Covid-19 patients die after a Chamarajanagar hospital runs out of oxygen.

Hi, this is Ahmed Shariff and you are listening to, From The Newsroom— your daily evening news catch-up show from Deccan Herald.

Here is the top news of May 3, 2021:

The Supreme Court has asked the Union and state governments to consider imposing a ban on mass gatherings and super-spreader events, as well as bring about a lockdown, to curb the spread of the coronavirus "in the interest of public welfare".

A three-judge bench, presided over by Justice D Y Chandrachud, made the suggestion in light of the continuing surge of infections in the country. The court asked the Centre and state governments to put on record by May 10 the efforts taken to curb the spread of the virus and the measures that they plan on taking in the near future.

The order comes at a time when several state governments have imposed curbs, including curfew on movement of the public, at a local level.

Seeking to augment human resources deployed in fighting Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved a number of measures, including postponing the NEET-PG for at least four months to make a large number of qualified doctors available for pandemic duty and pressing into service medical interns. The PMO said in a statement on Monday that the services of final year MBBS students can also be utilised for providing services like tele-consultation and monitoring of mild Covid cases after due orientation under the faculty's supervision. Medical interns will work under the supervision of their faculty.

In a tragic turn of events, a total of 24 patients died in Chamarajanagar district, 175 kilometres from Bengaluru, on Sunday, after hospitals ran out of oxygen. Officials said that 23 patients died at the district Covid Hospital and one at a private hospital.

According to the district administration, as many as 12 patients died due to lack of oxygen, while others died of co-morbid conditions.

However, locals alleged that the authorities were fabricating the number of deaths. They claimed that even non-Covid patients had to face oxygen shortage, resulting in deaths.

Source: DHNS/ PTI