India reports record increase of 1,761 in COVID-19 deaths in a day
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India's daily COVID-19 cases retreated from record levels on Tuesday, but stayed above the 200,000 mark for a sixth straight day, with cases increasing by 259,170 over the last 24 hours.
Deaths from COVID-19 rose by a record 1,761 to reach a total of 180,530, health ministry data showed.
Meanwhile, diagnostics firms testing for coronavirus are nearing breaking point in cities like New Delhi and Mumbai as India battles its biggest surge in COVID-19, which may worsen the crisis as many sick people can't get tested fast enough to isolate themselves.
"We can't cater to the demand," said Dr. Vidur Mahajan of Mahajan Imaging in the Indian capital, who has temporarily shut two of his three sample collection points due to a backlog of pre-booked tests, and to prioritise testing for government hospitals.
Officials from four diagnostics companies, including Mahajan, said samples currently being tested daily were between 300%-650% higher than February, putting infrastructure and personnel under severe pressure.
If sample arrivals rise further, by 25% to 30%, "probably the testing facilities will crash, in terms of turn-around time at least," said A. Ganesan, group vice chairman of Neuberg Diagnostics, which runs 14 testing labs across India.
"We will have to turn back some of the patients without collecting their samples."
India's health ministry did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters. The government said 1.5 million samples were tested on Monday, a jump from about 1 million at the start of the month.
New Delhi resident Puneet Vig said it took several calls to four labs this week before he was able to book a test for his 62-year-old mother who has been running a fever.
Her sample is due to be collected on April 24, with at least a couple of more days of delay expected till her results become available, he said.
"If you can't get a basic thing like testing done even in Delhi, it is very frustrating," Vig said.
"What is happening because of the delayed testing is that the circle of transmission is getting wider and wider," said Dr. Ravindra Khade Patil of Sushrut Hospitals on the outskirts of Mumbai.
