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Calls grow for new national lockdown as India breaks daily Covid death record

India has announced a record in Covid-19 deaths which took the overall tally to more than a quarter million. The number of coronavirus cases also swept past the 23 million mark amid calls growing for a nationwide lockdown.

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People waiting outside a train station to go home on the first day of a government-imposed 10-day lockdown in Secunderabad, India on May 12, 2021.
People waiting outside a train station to go home on the first day of a government-imposed 10-day lockdown in Secunderabad, India on May 12, 2021. Noah Seelam AFP
By: Pratap Chakravarty
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Coronavirus killed 4,205 people and infected 3,48,421 in 24 hours to Wednesday amid reports the virus had reached India’s impoverished countryside.

The stark numbers came a day after federal authorities said cases were declining in 18 states and federal territories including in the worst-hit national capital.

“The new recoveries outnumber the new cases seen in last 24 hours,” the health ministry said.

The daily five-digit jump in numbers led to calls for a nationwide lockdown to try and fight the surge, blamed on an infectious strain labelled B.1.617, which has also spread to 44 countries.

Calls for total lockdown

Calls grew meanwhile for a nationwide shutdown to isolate the deadly B.1.617.

Only five of India’s 28 states are currently under a lockdown for the rest of the month.

Several others have only closed restaurants, cinema theatres and shopping malls.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded a "complete, well-planned, pre-announced" lockdown instead of patchy restrictions and sporadic night curfews.

“Lockdown will break the chain of the devastating spread,” said IMA, which represents thousands of physicians.

“This will (also) allow breathing time for the health care infrastructure to recoup and replenish both the material and manpower,” it said and blamed the surge on “extreme lethargy and inappropriate actions” of federal health authorities.

India’s political opposition lent its voice to the demand.

'If the IMA and reputed journals like the Lancet are suggesting imposition of a national lockdown, the government should impose the lockdown,” the Congress party said.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who heads one of India’s top health firms, argued a strict lockdown plus testing, screening and quarantine held back the pandemic in 2020.

‘So we should actually do all that all over again because we have the machinery in place to do all that,” Shaw said Wednesday.

 The Confederation of Indian Industries, the largest trade lobby, hinted its support for such a step.

It urged the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the “strongest measures including curtailing economic activity” to fight back.

“Given the current pandemic situation, safeguarding lives is of utmost priority and nationwide maximal response measure at the highest level is called for to cut the transmission links,” forum president Uday Kotak said.

Public health experts and international agencies also urged the government to accelerate its anti-Covid vaccination drive.

Only 30 million of India’s 1.4 billion people have received both their doses.

Cities grapple with shortages

On Wednesday, inoculation centres in India’s business hub Mumbai were a picture of chaos after many ran short of vaccines, TV footages showed.

Delhi city too reported sweeping shortages.

"So, we have had to close down more than 100 centres,” Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia added as people crowded many of the closed facilities.

India was also starving for medical oxygen while hospitals were stretched despite global aid pouring in.

Five states, which account for 54 percent of all active cases, were receiving just 42 percent of the gas available in India.

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