The coronavirus continued to rise at an alarming pace in India with a massive surge of 379,459 cases and 3,647 deaths in a day as the US has dispatched its first batch of Covid-19 relief materials to the country.
According to health ministry data on Thursday, the total caseload stands at 18,368,096 and the death toll from the coronavirus reached 204,812. India now has nearly 3.1 million active cases.
India has been reporting more than 300,000 cases daily for a week now.
Maharashtra reported a record high of 985 Covid-19 deaths. The state also reported 63,309 new cases. Kerala registered 35,013 new cases and Uttar Pradesh 29,824.
Capital Delhi recorded 368 Covid-19 deaths and around 26,000 cases with positivity rate of 31.76 per cent. Karnataka reported a new all-time record on Wednesday with 39,047 cases in the last 24 hours. Its capital Bengaluru alone accounted for 22, 596 of the total number of cases.
The six most affected states by total cases are: Maharashtra (4,470,085), Kerala (1,495,377), Karnataka (1,439,000), Uttar Pradesh (1,182,848), Tamil Nadu (1,081,988), and Delhi (1,047,916).
US AID: Meanwhile, the US has dispatched its first batch of Covid-19 relief materials to India, including oxygen cylinders and regulators, Rapid Diagnostic Test kits and N95 masks.
The White House has said the US would be sending supplies worth more than$100 million to India and “meet the urgent health needs of the Indian people”.
In a statement on Wednesday, US Agency for International Development (USAID) said, “The United States deployed the first of several emergency Covid-19 relief shipments to India. Arriving in New Delhi from Travis Air Force Base on the world’s largest military aircraft, the shipment includes 440 oxygen cylinders and regulators.”
“In addition, on this first flight, USAID has sent 960,000 Rapid Diagnostic Tests to identify infections early to help prevent the community spread of Covid-19, and 100,000 N95 masks to protect India’s frontline healthcare heroes,” the statement said.
Joe Biden administration has also redirected its own order of AstraZeneca manufacturing supplies to India, which will allow it to make over 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also locally procured oxygen cylinders and will deliver them to support hospital systems in India.
The US is also providing the first tranche of a planned 20,000 treatment courses of the anti-viral drug Remdesivir to help treat hospitalised Covid-19 patients.
“The United States has stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of India for more than 70 years, and will continue to fight the Covid-19 pandemic together,” said the statement.
“Just as India sent assistance to the United States when US hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is now helping India during its time of need,” it further said.
