World COVID-19 News: India Passes 5 Million Infections, More French Schools Closed, Philippines Confirms 3,550 New Infections In Past 24 Hours

World COVID-19 News: As India's total of coronavirus infections passed 5 million on Wednesday, and cases are still continuing to soar, its public healthcare system is on the verge of a collapse as they are no longer hospital beds in many states and already there is a growing shortage of medical supplies and even oxygen for medical use.


 
India has has added more than 1 million cases of infection this month alone and is expected to become the pandemic's worst-hit country within weeks, surpassing the United States, where more than 6.6 million people have been infected.
 
Just in the last 24 hours, 90,123 new cases had been confirmed in the past 24 hours, raising the total to 5,020,359, about 0.35% of the nation's nearly 1.4 billion population. Its record daily high of 97,570 cases was reported on Sept. 11.
 
Health authorities have said that 1,290 more people died in the past 24 hours, for a total of 82,066, which is the third-highest toll in the world. Experts warned that India's fatality rate could increase in coming weeks with lockdown restrictions relaxed except in high-risk areas.
 
Despite having ample supply of cheap generic remdesir and tocilizumab, having so called ayush herbal meds from so called holy gurus who are basically conman and also touting so called homeopathic remedies which are basically fake meds, masses are still getting infected and dying.
 
Though it is reported that its fatality rate is 1.6%, far lower than 3% each in the United States and Brazil, many are saying the death rates are being under reported and concealed. One doctor said that based on data from a private network of doctors sharing information and data, in Bengaluru and Chennai alone, each city saw at least more than 850 deaths each in the last 24 hours.
 
An infectious diseases expert from Christian Medical College in the southern Indian state of Vellore, Dr Gagandeep Kang, said that the number of cases increasing in India was inevitable.

It was reported that most of India's deaths are concentrated in its large cities Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Pune. But smaller urban centers in Mahrashtra like Nagpur or Jalgaon have also reported more than 1,000 deaths.
 
The state of Maharashtra with more than 1 million cases remains the worst affected region in India, followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh. These states account for more than 60% of coronavirus cases in the country.
 
The Health Minister referring to media reports that some hospitals in Maharashtra state were facing a shortage of oxygen cylinders said that the supplies were adequate in the country, but state governments should monitor the situation.
 
He said, "The problem happens when at a facility level, there is no inventory management.”
 
However doctors and health administrators in cities like Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai said that there is really an acute shortage of oxygen supplies and invited the Health Minister to see for himself.
 
It was reported that 155 health workers, including 46 doctors, have died so far due to COVID-19.
 
Out of 351 jails across India, a total 1,350 reported coronav irus infections were recorded according to The National Campaign Against Torture. Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra were the states with the most number of prisons infected.
 
India's meager health resources are poorly divided across the country. Nearly 600 million Indians live in rural areas, and with the virus spreading fast across India's vast hinterlands, health experts worry that most will not have access to any healthcare as already hospitals are having no beds available.
 
Meanwhile it was that more French schools have closed after multiple students tested positive for COVID-19 while a further 2,100 individual classes have also been called off, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said Wednesday.
 
A fortnight ago just 28 schools were closed shortly after the school year resumed but that number has climbed to 81 over the past week.
 
French health authorities said that there are around 1,200 new COVID cases among students compared with last week.
 
It was said that late Tuesday, the University of Montpellier in southern France said it had suspended classes at its medical school after some 60 students tested positive after a party while the University of Rennes in western France also suspended classes for second- and third-year medical students this week after 83 tested positive.
 
French health staff reported nearly 8,000 new cases in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday, a small decline from the more than 10,000 cases reported Saturday, a record since wide-spread testing began.
 
However they noted a jump in the number of hospitalizations over the past week, to 2,713 cases, of which 479 needed to be placed in intensive care and nearly half of those new cases came on Monday and Tuesday alone.
 
Even though the number is far below the 7,000 people in intensive care at the height of the pandemic, the government is bracing for a second wave of cases that could come with cooler weather this autumn.
 
The French government has placed 82 of the country's 101 departments on red alert, and officials in Bordeaux and Marseille this week tightened restrictions on public gatherings and retirement home visits after seeing a surge in new COVID-19 cases.
 
France's official death toll now stands at 30,999 people since the outbreak flared last March.
 
The Philippines' health ministry recorded 3,550 additional novel coronavirus infections and 69 more deaths in the last 24 hours.
 
The ministry said total confirmed cases had risen to 272,934, the most in Southeast Asia, while confirmed deaths have reached 4,732.
 
Ukraine registered a record 76 deaths related to the new coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the national security council said on Wednesday, up from a record of 72 deaths registered last week.
 
The council said 162,660 cases were registered in Ukraine as of Sept. 16, with 3,340 deaths and 72,324 people recovered.
 
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