DM Monitoring
NEW DEHLI: India on Tuesday posted 196,427 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, its lowest daily rise in infections since April 14, while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3,511. The country’s overall caseload now stands at 26.95 million, while total fatalities are at 307,231, according to health ministry data.
India has been reeling with the worst coronavirus crisis since the past few weeks as it also grapples with oxygen shortages and flood devastation. India has the second-highest tally of COVID-19 cases in the world and has been reporting around 250,000 infections and 4,000 deaths daily.‘Super-spreader’ Modi
The catastrophic surge has led to criticism at home. The Indian government is facing increased criticism over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, with Prime Minister Modi and state authorities being blamed for not adequately planning for the ongoing second wave of coronavirus infections.
The 70-year-old, whose image as a technocrat brought him deep approval from a middle class weary of corruption and bureaucratic dysfunction, has been accused of stifling dissent and choosing politics over public health.
Reporters from New Delhi, said the government was facing a lot of criticism from courts around the country, adding, “The Delhi High Court told the government that it is living in an ivory tower while people die from a lack of oxygen,”.
Modi was also called a “super-spreader” by the vice president of the Indian Medical Association, Dr Navjot Dahiya. With deaths mounting and a touted vaccine rollout faltering badly, Modi has pushed much of the responsibility for fighting the virus onto poorly equipped and unprepared state governments and even onto patients themselves, critics say.
