India suffers first foreign diplomat casualty from Covid-19

NEW DELHI – India on Monday reported first death of a foreign diplomat due to coronavirus as the country battles with devastating second wave of pandemic with hospitals running out of medical supplies.

Col Dr Moses Beatus Mlula, Defence Advisor of Tanzania lost his life due to COVID-19 at the Base Hospital in New Delhi on April 28.

The deadly virus has hit a significant number of foreign diplomats in the Indian capital. The situation was brought to light when the Philippines and New Zealand missions contacted the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) seeking oxygen cylinders.

As of Monday, India reported more than 300,000 fresh Covid infections for a 12th straight day - taking its overall caseload to nearly 20 million. With 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, the country’s total infections stand at 19.93 million, while total fatalities are 218,959.