According to the province of Ontario, 4,212 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded, with 32 deaths.
At least 22 patients died on Wednesday in a hospital in western India as a result of a leaking tank disrupting their oxygen supply, according to the health minister, as a nationwide increase in coronavirus cases depletes oxygen supplies.
Officials said the world’s second-most populous country posted 295,041 new infections on Wednesday, the highest daily increase of any country, straining its hospitals.
Hospitals in the capital and elsewhere have issued an alert that their medical oxygen supplies, which are provided to the terminally ill, are running low. The number of COVID-19 patients is rapidly diminishing as new cases arrive.
Most of the hospitals in the network, according to Max Healthcare, a major private-sector healthcare provider in Delhi and its suburbs, “are running on dangerously low levels of oxygen supply.”
The’storm’ of Coronaviruses is wreaking havoc on the system.
India had let its guard down when the virus seemed to be under control during the winter, allowing large gatherings such as weddings and festivals, according to health experts.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a national address that India is facing a coronavirus “storm” that is overwhelming the country’s health system, and that authorities are collaborating with states and private companies to provide oxygen with “scale and sensitivity.”
Modi has come under fire for speaking at crowded political rallies ahead of local elections and for allowing a religious festival to take place in which millions of Hindus take a ceremonial bath in the Ganges, which is considered sacred.
After the United States and China, India has administered nearly 130 million doses of vaccine, the most in the world, but still a small proportion of its population.
Canada had confirmed 1,144,482 COVID-19 cases, with 87,708 still involved. According to CBC News, a total of 23,750 people died.
On Wednesday, Ontario announced 4,212 new cases of COVID-19 and 32 new deaths. According to provincial statistics, there were 2,335 hospitalizations, with 790 people in ICUs due to COVID-related illness.
Meanwhile, the Ontario government has stated that a paid sick-leave scheme for critical employees is being considered. The potential change comes after public health experts repeatedly urged the government to do more to protect essential employees, who are bearing the brunt of the pandemic’s third wave.
On Wednesday, Quebec confirmed 1,217 new COVID-19 cases and six new deaths. There were 716 hospitalizations, and 178 patients in the intensive care unit.
Newfoundland and Labrador was the first province in Atlantic Canada to publish updated statistics on Wednesday when health officials reported one more event.
Nunavut, in the far north, confirmed one new case of COVID-19 on Wednesday. In a tweet, Premier Joe Savikataaq stated that 33 active cases remain in the territory.
On Tuesday, Manitoba confirmed 211 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death in the Prairies.
Meanwhile, health officials in Saskatchewan confirmed 249 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, but no new deaths. COVID-19 hospitalizations totaled 195, with 51 people admitted to intensive care units, the largest number of ICU admissions in the province since the pandemic began.
On Tuesday, Alberta confirmed 1,345 new cases of COVID-19, with five more deaths. There were 476 hospitalizations, with 105 patients in intensive care.
On Tuesday, health officials in British Columbia confirmed 849 new cases of COVID-19 and one additional death. Hospitalizations totaled 456, with 148 of them requiring intensive care, setting new records for the province.
In the Asia-Pacific region, Japan’s government is planning to declare the third state of emergency in Tokyo and the western metropolitan area around Osaka, in response to local leaders’ demands that existing policies are failing to stem a rapid increase in coronavirus infections.
Germany’s parliament has approved Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government’s plan to impose uniform restrictions in areas where the coronavirus is spreading too rapidly.
The law requiring the application of an “emergency brake” in areas with high infection rates is intended to end the patchwork of interventions that have often characterized the pandemic response across Germany’s 16 states, which is highly decentralized.
Brazil’s Communications Minister Fabio Faria said the country is in negotiations to purchase another 100 million doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine in the Americas, as the country scrambles to get more shots after a slow start to its vaccination program.
South Africa remained the worst-affected country in Africa, with more than 1.5 million COVID-19 cases recorded and a death toll reaching 54,000.
