India says it is moving towards “victory” against the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic

The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, on Sunday encouraged the country to continue the fight towards “victory” against this second wave of the pandemic of coronavirus that has hit the India, which has drastically reduced the number of infections with the lowest figure in the last 46 days.

“In the first wave we fought bravely. This time India will also be victorious in the fight against the virus … There should be no truce of any kind in our efforts. This is the way to victory, “said Modi during his monthly speech on the radio program” Mann Ki Baat “(Speaking from the heart).

During “the greatest pandemic in the last hundred years,” the president highlighted the work of health workers and other front-line workers in the fight against covid, such as those who dealt with oxygen transport in the face of the great shortage.

Faced with this lack of oxygen, which caused deaths in hospitals and the call for help of thousands of people, Modi stressed that the country managed to increase the production of 900 metric tons of daily medical oxygen, to “generate more than 10 times normal production and produce around 9,500 metric tons per day ”.

CONTAGES FALL IN HALF

This increase in oxygen production has been accompanied by a drastic reduction in the number of infections, with 165,553 in the last 24 hours, the lowest figure in 46 days and far from the more than 400,000 daily cases registered in early May.

With some 27.8 million infections since the start of the pandemic, the number of active cases is now 2.1 million, about 114,000 less than yesterday, with some 276,300 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, which places the index recovery in 91.2%, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Health.

The steep decline in the number of cases despite a certain slowdown, contrasts with deaths, which remain high, with 3,460, about 150 less than yesterday, bringing the total to 325,972, a figure that only the United States and Brazil exceed.

In addition, the positivity rate fell to 8.02%, when only a month ago it was around 20%, although the World Health Organization (WHO) considers that the pandemic is only under control in a country if the positivity rate is found below 5%.

This change has been reflected in regions such as New Delhi, which after being overwhelmed by this second wave, with hospitals without beds or oxygen and collapsed crematoria, is now at the levels of the end of March, when the worst was yet to happen. reducing for the first time since then the thousand cases per day, with 956, compared to 26,000 at the end of April, and 122 new deaths, compared to 400 at the beginning of May.

Meanwhile, the vaccination campaign remains the safest way out of this pandemic, and India continues to advance towards that goal with almost 212 million doses administered so far, some 3 million in the last day, although still insufficient for its 1.35 billion. population.

Thus, more than 44.4 million beneficiaries have already received both doses of one of the available vaccines: Covishield from AstraZeneca, which is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII); Covaxin, from the Indian laboratory Bharat Biotech; or the Russian Sputnik V..