India’s tally of Covid cases passes 25mn

India’s total Covid-19 caseload surged past 25mn on Tuesday as a powerful cyclone complicated the health crisis in the western states of Gujarat and Maharashtra, already among the hardest hit by a second wave of the pandemic.Covid-19 tests were administered to 200,000 people evacuated from coastal districts of Gujarat and efforts were being made to try to limit any spread of infections. “Masks have been arranged for people shifted to shelter homes,” said Sandip Sagale, a top official in Ahmedabad, the main city in Gujarat.“Efforts are also made to maintain social distancing.”India’s total tally of coronavirus cases now stands at 25.23mn, health ministry data showed, following 263,533 new infections over the past 24 hours, while fatalities rose by a record 4,329.The official total death toll is 278,719. The government said about 98% of India’s population of 1.3bn remained susceptible to infections. Only the US has had more cases, or a worse single day death toll, when it lost 5,444 people on February 12.But whereas the epidemic there peaked months ago, there is no certainty that India’s infections have. Though the official count shows new infections subsiding, there are fears that the new, highly infectious B.1.617 variant, first found in India, is out of control and that many cases are going unreported due to lack of testing.Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, has suffered a 30% increase in infections since May 2, while the total number of vaccinations it administered last week was just 1.1mn — half the total of a month earlier. The storm has exacerbated efforts to tackle the pandemic in Gujarat, with vaccinations suspended and hospitals awaiting back-up generators to keep power running and additional oxygen supplies.Vaccinations are likely to remain suspended at least until today, a government official said yesterday. But Aayush Oak, a top official in Amreli, the district hardest hit by the cyclone, said preparations had paid off.“We had already shifted Covid patients from areas closer to the coast to hospitals in other places three days back and did not need to shift a single patient more. There is no disruption of oxygen supply to any hospital,” Oak said.Sunaina Tomar, energy secretary in Gujarat state, said 81 hospitals designated for coronavirus patients had faced power supply disruption, along with 16 other hospitals, and 19 oxygen refilling plants.