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India’s COVID-19 cases worsen as 3,980 die in 24Hrs
India saw record new jumps in Covid-19 cases and deaths on Thursday, dashing tentative hopes that a catastrophic recent surge that has stretched hospitals to the limit might be easing.
Health ministry numbers showed 3,980 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the national total to 230,168, and 412,262 new cases, taking India’s caseload since the pandemic began over 21 million.
Many experts suspect that with low levels of testing and poor record-keeping for cause of death — and crematoriums overwhelmed in many places — the real numbers could be much higher.
The rise follows several days of falling case numbers that had raised government hopes that the virus surge may have been easing.
Having hit a high of 402,000 last Friday, the daily number of cases eased to as low as 357,000 before creeping up again on Tuesday.
Senior health ministry official Lav Aggarwal had told reporters on Monday that there was a “very early signal of movement in the positive direction”.
The sharp rise in cases since late March has overwhelmed hospitals in many places, with fatal shortages of beds, drugs and oxygen.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has resisted imposing a new lockdown although several regions including the capital New Delhi, Bihar and Maharashtra have imposed local shutdowns.
Until now the worst-hit areas have been Delhi and Maharashtra but other states including West Bengal, Kerala and Karnataka are now reporting sharp rises.
Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Twitter Thursday a week-long lockdown in the southern state of 35 million people, which has one of India’s best health care systems.
Health workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) suits attend to a Covid-19 coronavirus patient inside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Teerthanker Mahaveer University (TMU) hospital in Moradabad on May 5, 2021. Prakash SINGH / AFP
West Bengal, which controversially just completed an eight-phase election, on Wednesday announced tighter curbs including a suspension of local trains. Weddings are still allowed, however, with a maximum of 50 people.
K. Vijay Raghavan, the Indian government’s principal scientific advisor, said Wednesday that the country of 1.3 billion had to be ready for another wave of infections after the current one.
“Phase 3 is inevitable given the high levels of circulating virus. But it is not clear on what timescale this phase 3 will occur. We should prepare for new waves,” Raghavan told a news conference.
With the government facing criticism as patients die outside hospitals, consignments of oxygen and equipment have been arriving from the United States, France, Britain, Russia and other countries in recent days.
But India will need yet more oxygen from other countries to fight the surge until numbers stabilise, another government official said Monday.
“We did not and do not have enough oxygen,” the top government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “If we could get more oxygen more lives would be saved.”
Overnight, 11 people died in a hospital near the southern city of Chennai after pressure dropped in oxygen lines, the Times of India reported, the latest in a string of similar incidents.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies called for “urgent” international action to prevent “a worsening human catastrophe” across South Asia.
It highlighted the case of Nepal, where it said “many hospitals are full and overflowing” with Covid-19 patients and the daily caseload is 57 times higher than one month ago.
The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Wednesday meanwhile that the UK strain of Covid-19 was declining but that the Indian variant known as B.1.617 was being increasingly detected.
It stopped short of saying the Indian variant was to blame for the current rise.
“The current surge in cases over the last one and a half months in some states show a co-relation with the rise in the B.1.617 lineage”, local media quoted NCDC chief Sujeet Singh as saying.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the B.1.617 variant has now been reported in more than a dozen countries.
But it has not said whether the variant is more transmissible, deadlier or able to evade vaccines.
-AFP
The Kano State House of Assembly has initiated impeachment proceedings against Deputy Governor Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo over allegations of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and breach of public trust.
The notice was presented yesterday during plenary by the Majority Leader, Lawan Hussaini Dala, who said the action follows Section 188 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Dala said the allegations stem from Abdussalam’s tenure as Commissioner for Local Government (2023–2024) and his current role as deputy governor. He accused the deputy governor of diverting funds meant for the 44 local government councils.
According to the majority leader, Abdussalam allegedly received N1.5 million monthly from each council between June 2023 and January 2024, totaling N462 million. Between February and July 2024, he allegedly collected N3.255 million monthly from each council under the guise of special assignments, amounting to N726 million.
Dala also accused the deputy governor of abuse of office, claiming he facilitated payments of N10 million from each council to NovoMed Pharmaceuticals Limited, totaling N440 million, in violation of state procurement laws.
“The misuse of official capacity to confer undue advantage constitutes abuse of power and undermines public trust,” Dala told lawmakers, adding that the allegations amount to gross misconduct under the Constitution.
The impeachment notice was reportedly endorsed by 38 lawmakers, meeting the constitutional threshold to proceed. The Speaker has acknowledged receipt, and the House is expected to serve the allegations on the deputy governor.
If approved, a panel may be constituted by the state Chief Judge to investigate the claims.
As of filing, Abdussalam had yet to respond publicly to the allegations.
The Senator representing Bayelsa West, Seriake Dickson, on Thursday announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), declaring that he had joined the newly registered Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
Dickson, a former governor of Bayelsa State, made the announcement during a media briefing in Abuja, attributing his decision to what he described as irreconcilable differences within the PDP.
The lawmaker said the emergence of the NDC would strengthen Nigeria’s democratic system by providing a credible opposition platform.
According to him, the party recently received its certificate of registration from the Independent National Electoral Commission.
He said, “Last week INEC issued a certificate of registration and we now have the newest party in Nigeria known as the Nigeria Democratic Congress and our symbol is victory, the victory sign.
“So, my dear Nigerians, you now have a credible alternative opposition party known as the Nigeria Democratic Congress.”
Dickson noted that although the party’s registration took longer than expected, its eventual approval was a welcome development for the country’s democratic landscape.
“Yes, it is coming at this time. We would have wished it started some years or months back. We don’t control INEC and their processes; they delayed. We don’t also control the judiciary, but thank God it has finally arrived,” he said.
The senator also stressed that Nigeria’s democracy must not slide into a one-party system, insisting that political diversity remained vital for national stability.
“This nation cannot be a one-party state. Nigeria cannot be a one-party state. Nigeria is not designed to be a one-party state.
“We are a very diverse nation culturally, religiously and politically and that is the beauty of our country.
“So anyone or any party promoting one-party rule in Nigeria is mistaken. We build political parties and get involved in movements to access power for the good of the people, not for our personal benefit,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission recently announced the registration of two new political parties.
The parties are the Democratic Leadership Alliance and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, bringing the total number of registered political parties in Nigeria to 21.
The announcement was made by the INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, during the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with political party stakeholders for 2026.
According to him, the Democratic Leadership Alliance completed the required verification process, while the Nigeria Democratic Congress was registered in compliance with a Federal High Court order.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 58-year-old alleged drug lord, Uzoma Valentine Ilomuanya, who had reportedly been on the agency’s wanted list and that of British authorities for over 15 years.
Ilomuanya was apprehended in Lagos on Monday, February 23, 2026, following what the agency described as a high-level, coordinated operation by officers of its Special Operations Unit.
The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Director of Media and Advocacy of the agency, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi said the suspect’s arrest ended a prolonged manhunt linked to his alleged involvement in drug trafficking activities across Nigeria and the United Kingdom.
According to the statement, Ilomuanya was first arrested in February 2003 in the United Kingdom and convicted for drug trafficking.
He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment but was released after serving two years following a successful appeal.
Babafemi added that the suspect was again arrested in the UK in July 2011 over drug-related offences.
He said, “He was granted administrative bail but jumped jurisdiction and fled to Nigeria.
“Typical of a recidivist, Ilomuanya was in November 2018 arrested in Nigeria by NDLEA operatives following the discovery of two clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in his Obinugwu, Orlu Local Government Area country home in Imo State and at his No. 3 Barrister Declan Uzoma Close, Lagos residence where officers recovered 77.960 kilograms of methamphetamine and extensive production equipment.
“He was subsequently charged before a Federal High Court in Lagos, after which he jumped court bail and has been on the run since then.”
Reacting to the development, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), described the arrest as a major breakthrough in the agency’s ongoing war against drug trafficking networks.
Marwa said the operation demonstrated the agency’s resolve to track down criminal elements regardless of how long they evade the law.
He said, “This arrest serves as a stern warning to those who think they can hide behind borders to escape justice.
“Whether you jump bail in London or set up clandestine labs in your village, the long arm of the NDLEA will eventually catch up with those who choose to undermine the health, security, and future of our nation.
“We remain committed to our international collaborations to ensure that Nigeria is not used as a sanctuary for global drug lords.”
Marwa also commended officers of the Special Operations Unit for their professionalism and persistence in tracking down the suspect.
He added that the agency would continue to strengthen intelligence-driven operations and international cooperation to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating within and beyond Nigeria.
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