India's COVID-19 situation is hugely concerning, says WHO chief
India's coronavirus situation remains hugely concerning, with several states continuing to report a massive number of cases and deaths, the World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Friday. Ghebreyesus further warned that the second year of the pandemic will be "far more deadly" than the first for the world. Here are more details on this.
'Several states seeing worrying number of cases, deaths'
"India remains hugely concerning, with several states continuing to see a worrying number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths," Ghebreyesus said at a daily media briefing, adding, "We thank all the stakeholders who are supporting India."
'Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam also seeing spikes'
Ghebreyesus noted the situation is worrisome in several other countries, including India's neighbors Nepal and Sri Lanka. "Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Egypt are just some of the countries that are dealing with spikes in cases and hospitalizations," he said, adding several African countries are also seeing surges. The WHO chief said public health measures and vaccination are the only way out of the pandemic.
India facing the world's worst coronavirus outbreak
India has been gripped by a ferocious second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic reporting lakhs of infections every day. In the last 24 hours alone, the country logged 3,26,098 fresh infections, taking the nationwide tally to 24,372,907. 3,890 more deaths took the toll to 2,66,207. India is currently reporting roughly the same number of daily new cases as the rest of the world combined.
Indian states impose lockdowns, current wave's peak near
Several states across India have announced sweeping restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus. However, the central government has been ignoring calls for a nationwide shutdown. Meanwhile, experts have said that the peak of the ongoing wave of COVID-19 may be near, but have already warned of a deadly third wave of infections.
India has fully vaccinated 3% of its population
India's handling of the current COVID-19 wave has been marred by an overwhelmed healthcare system as states continue to report shortages of hospital beds, medical oxygen, and other basic equipment. The country's vaccination drive has also lost pace over the past few weeks. India has fully vaccinated nearly four crore people - only 3% of its population of 1.4 billion.
