TheCable

Although the Indian government says it is scaling up efforts in its vaccination drive, the number of new COVID-19 infections hit a new world record on Thursday with 386,654 fresh cases.

The new figure comes amid growing concern about the increasing number of fatalities, as well as the challenging health system in the country which has led to shortage of medical oxygen and lack of bedspaces.

A total of 3,501 persons were confirmed to have died of coronavirus complications on Thursday, while over 18 million cases have now been recorded.

Although countries have indicated interest in sending medical aid to the South Asian country, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says there needs to be effective collaboration with stakeholders worldwide to bring the situation under control.

However, the government is also trying to take steps to minimise the spread of infections and reduce the fatality count.

In a statement on Thursday, Harsh Vardhan, the minister of health, expressed sadness about the fatalities, and said the government is currently undertaking a review of health facilities to ensure that more bedspaces are available for persons with severe symptoms.

He also gave the assurance that with the current modalities in place, the case count will reduce soon.

“The Minister asserted and assured that just as the active cases were reduced to less than 10,000 in February with a graded response from the government, the active cases will again be reduced. He said that no one knew about the virus last year but now government is better informed about how to deal with the menace and is leaving no stone unturned in its efforts to fight the deadly pandemic,” the statement reads.

Meanwhile, rich Indians are said to have fled the country in a bid to escape the current coronavirus scourge.