MUMBAI: India’s biggest cities are bracing for stricter lockdowns and other Covid-19 curbs as infections hit a six-month high, as a month-long surge continued in the country third-worst hit by the pandemic.India’s richest state, Maharashtra, accounted for more than half of the 89,129 new cases reported by the national health ministry in the last 24 hours, with a record 47,827 infections.
The state’s Chief Minister, Uddhav Thackeray, on Saturday warned citizens of a lockdown if cases continued to rise at their current rate, saying medical infrastructure would be inadequate in a couple of weeks.
In the southern state of Karnataka, home to India’s tech capital Bengaluru, authorities ordered gyms to be closed, barred functions at religious places and told cinema halls, bars, pubs and restaurants to limit the number of people allowed in.
India’s capital, New Delhi recorded more than 3,500 cases, its highest this year, but its chief minister ruled out another lockdown for now. Daily coronavirus cases have surged from around 15,000 in early March to 88,000 or so at the start of April.
The south Asian nation recorded 89,129 new infections and 714 deaths, the ministry said.
That was the biggest daily rise since Sept 20 and the most deaths since Oct 21, according to a AFP tally. India follows only the United States and Brazil in infections, with more than 12 million recorded since the start of the outbreak.
The government has intensified its vaccination drive in recent weeks, but the shots have been slow to reach India’s 1.3 billion people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has faced criticism for exporting vaccines produced in India when most Indians are yet to get them.
Meanwhile, UK medical regulator said on Saturday that out of 30 people who suffered blood clots after receiving the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, seven have died.
The British acknowledgement of deaths comes as several European countries have paused the use of the AstraZeneca jab over a potential link to blood clots.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said in a statement that “Out of the 30 reports up to and including 24 March, sadly 7 have died.”
The Netherlands on Friday halted vaccinations with the AstraZeneca jab for people under the age of 60 after five new cases among women, one of whom died.
Germany took a similar decision earlier this week.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA), which like the World Health Organisation previously declared the AstraZeneca vaccine safe, is expected to announce updated advice on the issue on April 7.
The EMA said again on Wednesday it believes the vaccine is safe and that experts have found no specific risk factors such as age, gender or medical history.
The UK regulator said that the 30 reports of thrombosis, submitted by medics or members of the public via a government website, came after 18.1 million doses of the vaccine had been administered in the country.
Most of the cases (22) were cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, a rare condition when a blood clot forms in the brain.
Eight other cases saw people suffer thrombosis and low levels of blood platelets, which help blood clot.
There were no reports of blood clots from the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine it said, adding that “our thorough review into these reports is ongoing.”
The regulator’s website says that on the basis of current data, the benefits of the vaccines against Covid-19 “continue to outweigh any risks”.
AstraZeneca said last month following US efficiency trials that its vaccine is 79 percent effective at preventing the disease and does not increase the risk of blood clots.
The UK has administered more than 31 million first vaccine doses, using both the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Pfizer-BioNTech jabs. People cannot choose which one they get.
The UK in June 2020 ordered 100 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and supported its development. It also ordered 30 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine the same year.
Restrictions had been already intensified in other European nations such as Belgium. In Germany, the government scrapped plans for a strict Easter lockdown, but Chancellor Angela Merkel urged people to limit their social contacts ahead of the break.
Across the Atlantic, fresh curbs were also imposed ahead of Easter in Ontario and Quebec, Canada’s two most populous provinces.
And in the Philippines, a lockdown affecting more than 24 million people was being extended for another week as authorities deploy tents and health workers to overwhelmed hospitals.
But there was a step towards normalcy in al-Quds Old City, where a lockdown dampened Easter last year.
There was a modest crowd this year as most major sites opened thanks to Israel’s successful vaccine rollout.
“Last year, it was very hard. We felt like the city was dead,” said Lina Sleibi, a Palestinian Christian who sings at church services in the nearby West Bank holy city of Bethlehem.
Now, “you feel alive again”, she said.
The pandemic has claimed more than 2.8 million lives worldwide. But the United States, the hardest-hit nation, became the first country to administer at least one shot to more than 100 million people — around half of its adult population.
President Joe Biden has vowed to cover the vast majority within weeks.
But infections remain on the rise in parts of the US, and Biden urged Americans to keep wearing masks and taking other precautions. “We need to finish this job,” he said.
