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 The highly transmissible B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus first
detected in India is also spreading across the globe, and Modi said
his government was "on a war footing" in its fight against the
contagion.
"The outbreak is reaching rural areas with great speed," Modi said,
addressing a group of farmers in a virtual conference. "I want to
once again warn all farmers and all those who live in villages about
corona."
Although about two-thirds of Indians live in rural towns and
villages where healthcare facilities are meagre, it was the first
time Modi has specifically referred to the spread of the virus in
the countryside since a second wave of the epidemic erupted in
February.
Indian health ministry data show 4,000 deaths and 343,144 infections
over the last 24 hours. It was the third consecutive day of 4,000
deaths, or more, but daily infections have kept below last week's
peak of 414,188.
The tally of infections since the pandemic first struck India more
than a year ago crossed 24 million, and the death toll stood at
262,317.
But experts say a lack of testing in many places, particularly rural
areas, meant the official count grossly underestimates the true
scale of the crisis.
Television has broadcast images of families weeping over the dead in
rural hospitals or camping in wards to tend the sick.
Bodies have washed up in the Ganges, the river that flows through
the country's most populous states, as crematoriums are overwhelmed
and wood for funeral pyres is in short supply.
"We are removing all obstacles that are in the way of any resources
we need in this fight," Modi said. "Work is being done on a war
footing. All departments of the government, all resources, our armed
forces, our scientists, everyone is working day and night to counter
COVID, together."
Modi has faced severe criticism over his leadership during the
health crisis, having allowed a huge Hindu gathering to take place
in northern India in February and addressing political rallies in
April that have been blamed for fuelling the spread of the disease
to rural areas.
INFECTIOUS VARIANT
The Indian B.1.617 variant has been found in eight nations in the
Americas, including Canada and the United States, said Jairo Mendez,
an infectious diseases expert with the World Health Organization
(WHO).
"These variants have a greater capacity for transmission, but so far
we have not found any collateral consequences," Mendez said. "The
only worry is that they spread faster."
Among the infected were travellers in Panama and Argentina who had
arrived from India or Europe, while in the Caribbean, the variant
was found in Aruba, Dutch St Maarten and the French department of
Guadeloupe.
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 It has spread to the Himalayan
nation of Nepal and also been detected in
Britain and tiny Singapore.
Public Health England said the total number of
infections due to the variant had more than
doubled in the past week, to 1,313 across
Britain.
"We are anxious about it - it has been
spreading," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said,
adding that meetings would be held to discuss
measures. "We're ruling nothing out."
Singapore said it was limiting social gatherings to two people and
putting a halt to dining in restaurants.
About half of the nearly 150 passengers booked to return on
Australia's first repatriation flight from India were denied
boarding because of positive test results, an Australian government
official said.
'FRIGHTENING SPEED'
"The human catastrophe that is unfolding in India and Nepal should
be a warning to other countries in the region to invest heavily in
surge capacity for an emergency response," said Yamini Mishra, of
rights group Amnesty International.
"The virus is spreading and transcending borders at a frightening
speed and will continue to hit the region’s most marginalized
populations hardest of all," the group's Asia-Pacific director said
in a statement.
Although Modi threw open inoculations for all adults from May 1,
vaccinations have slowed down.
India is the world's largest vaccine producer but the huge demand
has left it low on stocks. As of Friday, it had fully vaccinated
just over 39.4 million people, or over 2.9% of a population of about
1.35 billion, government data shows.
More than 2 billion doses of vaccine are likely to be available
between August to December this year, top government adviser V.K.
Paul told reporters amid criticism that the government had
mishandled the vaccine plan.
Those would include 750 million doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine, as
well as 550 million of Covaxin, made by domestic producer Bharat
Biotech.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd said the first batch of the Sputnik V
vaccine imported from Russia that landed in India on May 1 received
regulatory clearance on Thursday and the first dose of the shot was
administered in Hyderabad on Friday as part of a limited pilot.
(Additional reporting by Anuron Kumar Mitra in Bengaluru; Writing by
Raju Gopalakrishnan; Editing by Clarence Fernandez & Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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