Two Diplomatic Staff Of US Consulate Succumb To Covid-19 In India; Hundreds Infected: CNN

Due to the looming Covid-19 crisis in India, two locally employed staff members of the US consulate have succumbed to disease and more than 100 people have tested positive in recent weeks, CNN reported.

The CNN report says that diplomatic staff members were frustrated because they felt that they were not given clear information about when the US diplomatic mission would receive vaccines and they felt they were not being prioritized because many diplomatic staff in Europe and the US had already received their shots.

One source told CNN that the State Department had worked to get vaccines to locations where personnel live on campus — including in Kabul and Baghdad — which may have contributed to the Mission being so late in the queue. However, as one source noted, the vaccines “came too late for the two people who died … it’s horrible.”

Active cases of COVID-19 pandemic in India may peak at 38-48 lakh between May 14-18 and new infections could peak as high as 4.4 lakh from May 4-8, according to an analysis by IIT scientists.

India on Monday saw a single-day rise of 3,52,991 (3.52 lakh) COVID-19 infections and 2,812 fatalities with 28,13,658 (28.13 lakh) active cases.