Covid news live: Air India axes flights as cases surge to new high

A coalition of bodies representing doctors, nurses and other NHS staff have written a joint letter urging the government to massively increase funding for more workers in the health service.

The group of medical unions, Royal Colleges and NHS organisations said there were already about 90,000 vacant posts despite demand for the NHS surging as a result of the pandemic.

Staff working in the NHS were reporting high levels of stress and burnout, with four in ten telling a survey last month the strains of their job was making them unwell.

Two-thirds also said they believed there were not enough people in their part of the NHS to do their job properly.

“We must see a fully costed and funded national workforce plan, so we stop asking NHS frontline staff to bear an unsustainable workload shift after shift, week after week,” said the chief executive of NHS Providers Chris Hopson.

“Currently, the NHS cannot consistently give its staff a reasonable workload and the work life balance they need and deserve. That has to change.”

The open letter calls for a fully costed plan worth billions of pounds to be set out to tackle the understaffing issues across the health service.

Air India has said its flights between India and the UK have been cancelled from 24 April to 30 April in view of the restrictions announced by the British government.

The UK added India to its “red list” this week, citing the surge in Covid-19 cases in the country, meaning inbound travel is banned apart from British, Irish and third-country nationals with residence rights, who will be required to self-isolate in a government-approved hotel quarantine facility for 10 days.

The move follows concern over the importation of a new variant discovered in India.

A doctor in the city of Mumbai made a tearful appeal to people in a five-minute video to wear face masks.

Dr Trupti Gilada, an infectious diseases specialist, said: “I have never seen anything like this… we are so helpless.”

She went on to list three steps people should take in the fight against Covid-19.

First, she asked people to stay safe. “If you have not yet got Covid… or you were infected but have recovered… don’t think you are a superhero or that you have some immunity… you are wrong,” NDTV quoted her as saying.

Second, she said every person has to wear a mask. Third, she appealed to people to try and get admitted to a hospital if they feel unwell.

Opposition parties have criticised prime minister Narendra Modi for what they termed the “abdication of his responsibility” as the country battles a surge in Covid-19 cases.

Narendra Modi addressed the nation on Tuesday night, in a speech where he urged states against lockdowns unless as a “last resort”.

Sitaram Yechury, a prominent leader of the regional opposition CPM party, said: “India needs oxygen, not one word on meeting this acute shortage that is claiming a large number of lives.” He also said there was “not one word on increasing vaccine supplies, after wasting a whole year in not procuring them.”

He was reacting to Mr Modi’s speech on Tuesday in which the prime minister said the second wave has hit India like a storm. The prime minister said his government has taken decisions in the last few days which will help overcome the problem of shortage of oxygen.

In the biggest daily figures yet, India recorded 295,041 new cases of Covid-19 and 2,023 deaths in the 24 hours up to Wednesday morning.

The total number of confirmed cases in the country has crossed 15.6 million, the second highest behind the United States, while total deaths reached 182,553.

Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s live blog on the global Covid-19 pandemic. We start out coverage today in India, where new record numbers for both cases and deaths were reported on Wednesday amid a soaring second wave.