India has over 254,000 active cases and has the second most critical patients in the world
India surpassed Russia in total number of positive coronavirus, taking the third spot in the world. In recent days, India has seen a serious spike in number of cases with an average of around 24,000 new cases being reported every day.
India currently has about 699,000 total positive cases while Russia has nearly 688,000 cases. India has 31,000 more active cases of the virus compared with Russia with 254,000 cases. On the flip side, has significantly fewer patients in critical condition.
India is only second to the United States in terms of critical patients. Brazil, which has 561,000 active cases has fewer patients in critical care compared to India. The number of deaths in India are almost twice that of Russia with nearly the same number of cases which is a matter of concern for the health officials.
India maintained a lengthy lockdown that created many issues, including the return of migrant workers to their hometowns. Unemployment has since risen in many places of the country and stands at 11%. The current heat wave is also making it hard to follow safety guidelines. With the temperatures in excess of 45 degrees Celsius in some areas, wearing masks and maintaining social distancing is a huge challenge.
The exact situation is also hard to assess for the experts since according to a report, there is one coronavirus testing facility for 30 million people in the country. India can test up to 300,000 people every day but the testing capacity has yet to be achieved.
Some state governments in the country are reportedly pondering over another lockdown, this time in ten day increments. Indian Prime Minister has recently shown his opposition of another lockdown. A major factor behind this could be the fact that Indian unemployment was over 23% in May when the lockdown was in effect. The country’s economy will suffer greatly from another lockdown.