India sets yet another record with 1,26,789 new infections
“Satara, Sangli, Panvel have stopped vaccinations,” state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said. Pune also shut more than 100 vaccination centres because of vaccine shortage, Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule tweeted
India has set yet another one-day record for fresh COVID-19 cases. The country reported 1,26,789 new infections and 685 deaths on Thursday.
In terms of total caseload, Maharashtra continues to top, followed by Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Despite being the worst affected, vaccination was halted in part of Maharashtra on Wednesday evening because of shortage of vaccines.
“Satara, Sangli, Panvel have stopped vaccinations,” state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said. Pune also shut more than 100 vaccination centres because of vaccine shortage, Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule tweeted.
Twenty-six vaccination centres were shut in Mumbai, and were waiting for more vaccine doses from the Centre.
There were also reports of vaccine shortages in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. Several private hospitals posted notices at their entrance, saying they had run out of does.
Also read: Hesitancy due to fear hampering vaccination drive in rural Karnataka
“We don’t have vaccine stock since Monday. We could vaccinate only 50 people on Monday instead of the usual 200. We have stopped vaccinations since then. There’s no clarity on when next stock will come,” Dr Alok Gupta, director, Lyf Hospital, in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram, told NDTV.
In view of the rising cases, Madhya Pradesh announced weekend lockdown from 6pm on Friday to 6am on Monday, in all urban areas.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said: “For cities where cases have increased, appropriate action will be taken after the meeting of the crisis management group. We are making containment areas in big cities.”
New Zealand Suspends Entry for Travellers from India
Meanwhile, New Zealand has suspended entry for all travellers from India, including its own citizens, for more than two weeks, news agency Reuters said. The move came after the country recorded 23 new positive cases at its border, of which 17 were from India, it said.
“We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in Auckland. “I want to emphasise that while arrivals of COVID from India has prompted this measure, we are looking at how we manage high risk points of departure generally. This is not a country specific risk assessment,” Ardern said.
The suspension will start from 4pm local time on April 11 and will be in place until April 28.