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 Authorities reintroduced some curbs to slow the spread of the virus,
especially in the western state of Maharashtra, which accounted for
nearly two-thirds of the 46,951 new infections and the majority of
the 212 deaths.
Some hospitals in the country's worst-affected districts have begun
to run short of beds, and there is a rising clamour for the
immunisation campaign to be widened to cover more people, instead of
just the elderly and those suffering from other health conditions.
With the biggest rise in cases since early November, India's total
has surpassed 11.65 million, the highest in the world after the
United States and Brazil. The increase in deaths was the largest
since early January, and took the total to 159,967.
In some parts of India, most people still go out without masks and
flout advice on social distancing, including politicians campaigning
in four states where elections will begin later this month.
The health ministry has also warned that a huge gathering of
devotees for a Hindu festival could lead to a spike in cases as
people from all over the country flock to the banks of the Ganges
river in the holy northern town of Haridwar.
Local authorities have said they expect 150 million visitors at the
weeks-long Mahakumbh that began this month and peaks in April. The
festival is held only once every 12 years, and many Hindus believe
bathing in the river during this period absolves people of sins.
The surge in cases has also brought into focus India's low rate of
immunisation relative to population, despite being the world's
biggest maker of vaccines.
India has administered more than 44 million doses since starting its
vaccination campaign in mid-January, but wants to cover 300 million
of its 1.35 billion people by August.
VACCINE EXPORTS
India has donated or sold more than 60 million vaccine doses to 76
countries, saying some shipments are necessary to meet contractual
obligations.
[to top of second column] |
 As vaccine demand rises at
home, top vaccine manufacturer the Serum
Institute of India (SII) has delayed further
shipments of the AstraZeneca shot to the United
Kingdom, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
India has accepted experts' recommendation to widen the interval
between two doses of the AstraZeneca shot - branded as COVISHIELD by
SII - to 4-8 weeks, from 4-6 weeks currently.
The longer interval could help India cover more people with at least
one dose.
In Britain, regulators have said shots can be given up to 12 weeks
apart. India's health ministry said "it appears that protection is
enhanced if the second dose of COVISHIELD is administered between
6-8 weeks, but not later than the stipulated period of 8 weeks".
Maharashtra, India's richest state, has offered to make doses itself
to ease the supply pressure on SII and vaccine developer Bharat
Biotech, whose COVAXIN shot is also being used in the country's
inoculation programme.
The state reported 30,535 new coronavirus infections in the past 24
hours, forcing local authorities to reopen some quarantine centres.
The centres had been closed after the national daily caseload began
to decline after peaking at nearly 100,000 cases a day in September.
Maharashtra, home to Mumbai, has been accounting for more than half
of India's total cases after the full reopening of its economy
unleashed a second wave of infections late last month.
Nearly a dozen other states, including Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and
Karnataka, home to the tech hub of Bengaluru, have also seen a spike
in cases in the past few weeks.
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das, Rajendra Jadhav and Rama Venkat;
editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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