Daily COVID toll touches a new record as Oxygen Express gets green light

There was a small solace amid a grim day on the COVID front on Tuesday (April 20): the country reported 2.59 lakh new cases – down from 2.73 lakh cases on Monday (April 19). However, there were 1,761 COVID deaths on April 20 – the biggest one-day toll – in the last 24 hours beginning April 19.

With the country’s health infrastructure, including supply of oxygen, coming under tremendous stress, the Railways has said it is ready do its part: supplying liquid medical oxygen – a gigantic task since the national transporter has to carry it through roll-on-roll-off (RO-RO) service with road tankers placed on flat wagons.

“We hope to begin operations of Oxygen Express over the next few days. We would be able to send oxygen wherever there is such demand. Green corridor is being created for fast movement of Oxygen Express trains,” a railway official said.

“Instructions have been issued to zonal railways to ensure readiness to receive the trailers and load them. Ramps have to be built at Vizag, Angul (Odisha) and Bhilai (Chhattisgarh) and the existing ramp at Kalamboli (Navi Mumbai) is to be strengthened. Ramps at other locations would also be ready in a couple of days by the time the tankers reach those locations.

“Railways is running its first Oxygen Express in its fight against COVID-19. The Ro-Ro service with 7 empty tankers departed from Kalamboli, Maharashtra for Vizag today. Oxygen Express will move via a green corridor for loading with Liquid Medical Oxygen,” Minister of Raiways Piyush Goyal tweeted late on April 19.

In yet another massive countrywide exercise to combat the pandemic, the government on April 19 announced that all citizens aged 18 years or above can get COVID-19 vaccinations from May 1. Vaccine manufacturers will need to supply 50% of doses to the Centre and the rest to state governments and the open market at a pre-declared price, the government said.

Also read: COVID vaccination for 18+ from May 1, states can buy directly from pharma cos

April 20 marked a worrying aspect: The total number of cases now stands at over 1.53 crore. This is the sixth day in a row that the country’s daily infection caseload has crossed 200,000. However, the figure is a little less than on the previous day, when the one-day tally was 273,810.

In a meeting about the third phase of the vaccination drive, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The government has been working hard for over a year to ensure that maximum number of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest possible time…India is vaccinating people at world record pace and we will continue this with even greater momentum”.

The worst-hit Maharashtra reported 58,924 fresh COVID cases, taking the tally to over 38.98 lakh, while 351 new deaths pushed the toll to 60,824. In caseload, Maharashtra is followed by Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Also read: Kerala’s ‘Thrissur Pooram’ to happen with COVID curbs, and without devotees

Delhi remains under a weeklong lockdown: the national capital 240 deaths – the highest registered in a single day – and 23,686 fresh cases in the last 24 hours.

A night curfew for two weeks will be imposed in Kerala from April 20. The state that saw India’s first COVID case in January last year reported 13,644 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours.

In Telangana, a public gathering held on the eve of the by-elections to the Nagarjunasagar assembly constituency is said to be responsible for Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and 60 others turning COVID positive. The High Court gave the state government two days on April 19 to decide on a lockdown to tackle rising cases.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has refused to follow the Allahabad High Court directions to lock down five cities – Lucknow, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Kanpur, Gorakhpur – from April 19 night till April 26. The most populous state in the country reported 28,211 new COVID-19 cases and 167 deaths. “The state government has taken several steps and will take more steps in future…full lockdown would not be implemented in cities right now as people are voluntarily shutting establishments,” said the Yogi Adiyanath government said in a statement.

In the North-East, Assam on April 19 saw its biggest increase in pandemic cases with 1,367 new infections.