India Coronavirus Dispatch: Double mutant found in 61% Maha samples tested

Delhi labs struggle to deliver test results on time, medical waste spikes amid second wave, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Nearly 185,000 fresh cases in yet another record rise

India reported 184,372 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 13.8 million, according to a report in the Scroll. This is the highest daily rise in cases India has recorded since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The country saw 1,027 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,72,085, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 1.3 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 12.3 million. Read more here 

Maharashtra: Double mutant found in 61% samples tested

Data shared by Pune's National Institute of Virology (NIV) with laboratories in Maharashtra has shown that out of 361 Covid-19 samples that were obtained from the state between January to March and genome-sequenced, 61% had the double mutation E484Q and L452R, now classified as B.1.617 lineage, a report in The Indian Express said. The Modi government had announced the detection of a double mutant variant on March 24 in “15-20% samples in Maharashtra”. But the Centre did not link the variant with the resurgence of cases in the state. Read more here 

Delhi: Labs struggle to give Covid test results on time as cases surge

Many laboratories in New Delhi are testing nearly three to four times the usual number of swab samples for Covid-19 amid a resurgence in cases, a report in ThePrint said. Over 180,000 samples were tested in the last two days in the national capital and most labs say they were overstretched. To make matters worse, the National Institute for Cancer Prevention and Research (NICPR)—a key centre where government hospitals in Delhi send samples collected by them—did not conduct tests on Monday and Tuesday as they ran out of essential items such as flasks, safety equipment, among other things, the report said. Read more here

In letter to Modi, doctors’ association calls out VIP culture in govt hospitals

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), a doctors' association, has expressed concerns about “VIP culture” in government hospitals in a letter addressed to Prime Minister Modi, a report in ThePrint said. Amid a surge in cases, the association said several Centre-run government hospitals have separate VIP counters that offer Covid testing only to politicians and ministers. “But doctors have no separate counter for testing,” the letter said. Read more here 

Mumbai: Medical waste spikes amid rise in cases

The resurgence in Covid-19 cases has caused a spike in medical waste in Mumbai, which includes municipal solid waste and biomedical waste from Covid care centres and home quarantine, a report in The Indian Express said. The city has already generated a daily average of 50,000 kg Covid waste compared to an average of 39,000 kg daily in March. Biomedical waste includes syringes, medicines, used masks, gloves, urine bags, body fluid or blood-soaked tissues or cotton, PPE used by staff on Covid duty, the report said. Read more here