Dear Reader:

Worldometer, April 26, 2021: It is getting close to 150 million cases and closer to 20 million deaths world-wide.

It is getting closer to 20 million cases and close to 200 thousand deaths in India, with a steady increase of daily cases ever since March 8 (over 15 thousand cases that day), to a sharp increase since April 3 (over 90 thousand cases that day), to a record high of over 350 thousand cases yesterday, April 25.

Daily deaths have also increased sharply since March 30 (355 deaths  on that day) to a record high of 2,806 deaths yesterday, April 25.

In Brazil, there are over 14 million cases and close to 400 thousand deaths. The record high number of daily cases took place in March 25, with almost 98 thousand cases that day. The record high number of daily deaths took place on April 6, with 4,211 deaths on that day.

In the U.S. it’s getting close to 33 million cases and closer to 590 thousand deaths. The record high number of cases took place in January 8, with over 307.5 thousand cases on that day, and the record high of deaths took place on January 12, with 4,493 deaths on that day.

Associated Press, SOS messages,  panic as virus breaks India’s health system, April 26, 2021: “NEW DELHI (AP) — Dr. Gautam Singh dreads the daily advent of the ventilator beeps, signaling that oxygen levels are critically low, and hearing his critically ill patients start gasping for air in the New Delhi emergency ward where he works.

“Like other doctors across the country, which on Monday set another record for new coronavirus infections for a fifth day in a row at more than 350,000, the cardiologist has taken to begging and borrowing cylinders of oxygen just to keep his most critical patients alive for one more day…

“India was initially seen as a success story in weathering the pandemic, but the virus is now racing through its massive population of nearly 1.4 billion, and systems are beginning to collapse. SOS messages like the one Singh sent reveal the extent of panic in a country where infections are hitting new peaks daily…

“The White House said the U.S. is “working around the clock” to deploy testing kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment, and it would seek to provide oxygen supplies as well. It said it would also make available sources of raw material urgently needed to manufacture Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India. ‘Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, we are determined to help India in its time of need,’ President Joe Biden said in a tweet…

“India’s government said last week it would expand its vaccination program to make all adults eligible, something long urged by health experts. But vaccinations take time to show their effect on the numbers of new infections, and there are questions of whether manufacturers will be able to keep up with the demand. The pace of vaccination across the country also appears to be struggling”.

anita