COVID-19 Updates: Help arrives as hospitals run out of oxygen in India
A consignment of containers for the transportation of medical oxygen has arrived in India from Thailand while some more empty tankers will be airlifted from Singapore, the Union Home Ministry said today. India is struggling with the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of medical oxygen and beds as the number of cases rises. The country's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 1,76,36,307 on Tuesday with 3,23,144 more people testing positive for the viral disease. The death toll climbed to 1,97,894 as 2,771 more fatalities were reported.
Since Friday, the home ministry has been coordinating efforts to deploy empty oxygen tankers and containers at various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of life-saving oxygen.
The central government is trying to source oxygen from different parts of the country and making it available to the worst-hit states by running special trains.
Ten states, including Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, reported 69.1 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases registered in a day. With 3,23,144 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, the country's total tally of cases has climbed to 1,76,36,307.
Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Rajasthan are also among the 10 states that reported 69.1 per cent of the new cases.
Maharashtra has reported the highest daily new cases at 48,700. It is followed by Uttar Pradesh with 33,551 new cases and Karnataka with 29,744 new cases.
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