India witnessed the world’s highest single-day spike with 3, 46,786 new cases of the Covid-19 and 2,624 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the latest data released by the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Saturday morning.
The country reported close to a million new cases (9.94 lakh) in just three days, while Friday was the fourth day in a row in which India reported more than 2,000 deaths in 24 hours, TOI reported.
The alarming numbers of single-day cases, as well as the fatalities, broke all previous records of Covid-19 cases in India since the disease hit the country in January last year.
Meanwhile, the oxygen crisis in the country has deepened.
At least six patients, comprising five Covid-19, died in a private hospital in Amritsar in Punjab early Saturday after they lost oxygen supply due to its shortage.
Family members of victims said there was no oxygen flowing to ventilators in Neelkanth Multispecialty Hospital, leading to their deaths.
They were informed late Friday night by hospital authorities that the oxygen supply from the government was running short and they should make arrangement for it.
A doctor of the hospital informed the media that they had expressed concern several times over the delay in replenishing medical oxygen cylinders and also of running out of its supply with the district authorities.