Coronavirus Global situation
India, Thailand see record highs in new infections
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Workers preparing to fill medical oxygen cylinders for use on hospitalised Covid-19 patients on the outskirts of Jabalpur in central India. The country reported 261,500 new Covid-19 cases and 1,501 deaths on Saturday, according to the Indian Health Ministry yesterday.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
NEW DELHI/BANGKOK • India reported 261,500 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, taking the tally to nearly 14.8 million infections, according to the Indian Health Ministry yesterday.
This is the first time that the single-day spike has crossed the 260,000 mark in India.
A total of 1,501 deaths was reported on the same day, bringing the death toll to 177,150.
There are still more than 1.8 million active coronavirus infections in the country.
The daily figures continue to peak in India every day, and the government has imposed new measures to contain the spread. Some school examinations have been cancelled and others postponed in the wake of the country's deteriorating coronavirus situation.
India kicked off a nationwide vaccination drive in January, and so far over 122 million people have been vaccinated. The government has also ramped up testing facilities, as over 266 million tests have been conducted.
The national capital of New Delhi, one of the most affected places in the country, recorded more than 24,300 new cases and 167 deaths on Saturday.
So far 11,960 people have died in the city. The capital has imposed a weekend curfew from Friday night that lasted until this morning.
Meanwhile in Thailand, health authorities yesterday reported a new daily record of 1,767 Covid-19 cases and two additional deaths as the government's fresh round of restrictions came into effect amid the third wave of infections.
The latest outbreak, reportedly spreading from entertainment venues in the capital Bangkok, has resulted in Thailand's daily tally rising from only 26 on April 1 to nearly 1,800, bringing the national cumulative caseload to 42,352.
Of yesterday's new confirmed cases, 1,765 were domestic infections while two others were confirmed in quarantine facilities, said Mr Taweesin Visanuyothin, spokesman for the Centre for the Covid-19 Situation Administration.
The death toll rose to 101, Mr Taweesin said.
To stem the latest outbreak, which is likely to delay the government's plans to welcome back foreign tourists, the country closed schools, prohibited gatherings of more than 50 people and banned sales of alcoholic drinks in restaurants for at least two weeks starting from yesterday.
The new wave, which began early this month, has spread to more than 70 provinces of the country and infected more than 10,000 people, some of them with the fast-spreading Covid-19 variant first detected in Britain.
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