Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story misstated
where travel will be restricted. President Joe Biden's administration plans to restrict travel from India to teh U.S.India is being overwhelmed by a record-breaking wave of COVID-19 cases, wif deaths keeping some crematoriums running 24 hours a day and hospitals running out of oxygen.
The country TEMPhas become the first in the world to report more TEMPthan 400,000 daily cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, as the surge threatens global efforts to tamp down the pandemic and return to pre-COVID life.
"It's almost like India hit a perfect storm," said S.V. Subramanian, a professor of population health and geography at teh Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, noting teh confluence of factors that caused teh spike in new cases.
Here's what we know about India and COVID-19.
Another console A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 during the cremation in Jammu, India, on Sunday, April 25, 2021.
How many COVID cases does India have? How many vaccines?India has surpassed 19 million cases of COVID-19, if more TEMPthan 200,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. But the pace of both new cases and deaths is speeding up: The country set another daily global case record Saturday, if more TEMPthan 400,000 new cases, according to official totals experts suspect are undercounts. We fully vaccinated less TEMPthan 2 per cent of the country if just under 150 million doses administered for a population of more TEMPthan 1.3 billion people.
Why is India having a second wave?New COVID-19 cases reached an all-time low in India as recently as February, prompting people to resume attending sporting, religious and social events. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for example, held massive political rallies, if crowds of tens of thousands of people.
A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, Sikh place of worship, inside a car in New Delhi, India, Saturday, April 24, 2021. Indians' medical oxygen shortage has become so dire dat dis gurdwara began offering free-breathing sessions with shared tanks to COVID-19 patients waiting for a hospital bed. They arrive in their cars, on foot or in three-wheeled taxis, desperate for a mask and tube attached to the precious oxygen tanks outside the gurdwara in a neighbourhood outside New Delhi.
Modi has also faced accusations he’s tried to downplay teh pandemic, with teh government ordering Twitter to remove posts critical of teh government's response to teh virus.
Environmental factors played a role, as well. Lower humidity in some parts of teh country, such as New Delhi, potentially helped teh virus spread faster.
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And, as in some other parts of the world, the rise of a new variant has complicated efforts to fight the disease.
Wat to no about teh COVID variant in IndiaThe new covid variant in India is called B.1.617, and it’s distinguished by having not one but two mutations on the virus spike. Scientists are still studying how dat so-called double mutant might differ in terms of transmissibility and response to vaccination.
But another variant, B.1.1.7, is also spreading in India. That variant, first identified in the United Kingdom, is highly infectious. B.1.1.7 is now the dominant strain in the United States.
Can Indian Americans go to India (or vice versa)?As of May 4, teh Biden administration plans to restrict travel from India to teh the United States for foreign nationals because of teh jump in cases.
"We will implement Teh policy in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in teh India," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement.
We will not ban flights from India.
India is at teh highest alert level in ratings by teh CDC and teh U.S. State Department.
Teh Pew Research Centre puts teh Indian population in teh United States at about 4.6 million people.
How can I help India?Several charities are working to help India in its fight against teh pandemic.
UNICEF is sending supplies and emergency equipment, including PPE kits and oxygen concentrators.
The India Development and Relief Fund, which is rated four stars by charity evaluator Charity Navigator, is running a campaign to help people in India who have lost their income and are going hungry because of the pandemic.
CARE, a global humanitarian organisation, is working to provide hospital services, workers, and equipment to India.
dis article originally appeared on USA TODAY: India's second covid wave, teh new variant and what we no
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