India's COVID-19 death toll world's 9th largest; PM discusses augmenting testing beds

New Delhi: India’s COVID-19 death toll crossed the 9,000-mark on Saturday, June 13 with a record daily increase making it the world’s ninth-worst hit nation in terms of fatalities, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed steps to contain the pandemic in areas where large numbers of cases are being detected.

The tally of confirmed cases also saw the biggest one-day jump of over 14,000 and reached 3.13 lakh, as per the latest numbers announced by states and union territories.

At a review meeting with senior ministers and officials, Modi also discussed augmenting of COVID-19 testing as well as the number of beds and services required to effectively handle the rising number of daily cases, particularly in large cities.

The Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement that Modi directed Health Ministry officials to undertake an “emergency planning” in consultation with states and union territories in view of a government-appointed expert panel’s recommendations on city and district-wise requirement of hospital and isolation beds going ahead.

In the wake of a steep rise in the number of cases in Delhi and the projections made by the city government for the tally to reach 5.5 lakh by July-end, Modi also suggested Home Minister Amit Shah and Health Minister Harsh Vardhan to convene an emergency meeting with Lt Governor Anil Baijal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior officials to plan a coordinated and comprehensive response to handle the challenge.

The Home Ministry said Shah and Vardhan will hold these meetings on Sunday.

Modi is also scheduled to interact with state chief ministers and UT representatives through video conference on June 16 and 17 for his sixth round of such interactions over the COVID-19 pandemic, the last being on May 11.

Taking note of the gravity of the coronavirus situation in the national capital, the Delhi High Court also directed the AAP government and the Centre to increase the number of beds and ventilators for COVID-19 patients.

Delhi reported 2,134 new cases and 57 more fatalities, taking its total count of cases to nearly 39,000 and the death toll to 1,271. The national capital has recorded more than 2,000 new cases for two consecutive days now.

At Modi’s review meeting, it was observed that out of the total cases two-thirds are in five states with an overwhelming proportion of cases in big cities.

Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat, Pune, Indore and Kolkata are among severely hit cities by the pandemic.