VOA News
PARIS – The number of covid-19 jabs administered globally surpassed the 1 billion mark on Saturday (April 24), offering hope after months of pandemic misery, even as the number of coronavirus cases worldwide hit another daily record, mainly because of an explosion of the virus in India.
At least 1,002,938,540 doses have been administered in 207 countries and territories, according to an AFP tally.
Nevertheless, the number of new infections topped 893,000 worldwide on Friday (April 23), a one-day record.
And India accounted for more than a third of those, with authorities there announcing 346,786 more new cases on Saturday, a record for a single country since the start of the pandemic.
The pandemic has now killed more than 3 million people worldwide since the outbreak emerged in China in December 2019.
And India, with its population of 1.3 billion, has become the new hot spot, with the current surge blamed on a new virus variant and recent “super spreader” public events. The country reported 2,624 new deaths in the past 24 hours.
Overwhelmed by the devastating new surge, the Indian government scrambled to organize special trains to get oxygen supplies to worst-hit cities.
One “oxygen express” carrying 30,000 liters of oxygen arrived in northern Lucknow at dawn on Saturday, where armed guards were waiting to escort trucks to hospitals.
The Indian air force also was being used to transport oxygen tankers and other supplies around the country and to bring oxygen equipment from Singapore. (VOA) -jlo
