World - Asia
Updated: April 21, 2021

India Records 2,020 COVID-19 Deaths In A Single Day

By Bolanle Akinlade
April 21, 2021
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India has recorded 2,020 COVID-19-related deaths in a single day, as the country continued its attempts to control the latest wave of the pandemic sweeping the globe.

Authorities registered approximately 295,000 fresh infections and some 2,020 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to Health Ministry data. Both were the highest-ever single-day tallies.

The cases came amid a steady drumbeat of news of crematoria becoming overwhelmed and experts reporting that the actual numbers are far worse than the ministry’s reports.

Health officials have said the medical system was stretching its limits, with widespread reports of shortages of beds and medical oxygen.

Social media accounts were full of people searching for a hospital with a free bed or even basic medicines.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said late on Tuesday that he was only prepared to consider lockdowns as a last measure, favoring instead more localized controls designed to stop the spread of infection.

A nationwide lockdown last year caused widespread confusion. It came with short notice and since it shut down so much of economic life, many people with jobs in big cities had to head home to villages, thereby accelerating the spread of the disease.

New Delhi went into a lockdown again this week, once again prompting many workers to opt to leave the city.

Case counts have been increasing rapidly in recent weeks, possibly because some people have been ignoring basic guidelines such as social distancing and mask-wearing.

There have also been several large religious events in recent weeks that might have helped the spread. On top of that, mutated versions of the virus are spreading rapidly in the country, compounding the medical problems.

More than 15.6 million people in India have been infected, making it the second-worst-affected country, only behind the U.S.

More than 182,000 have died after becoming infected.