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India records its deadliest day of pandemic with over 4,000 COVID deaths reported Saturday

08 May 2021
Dan Ackermann

India saw its deadliest day of the pandemic yet with more than 4,180 confirmed COVID-19 deaths reported Saturday.

Why it matters: The country has recorded more than 21.8 million coronavirus cases and 238,270 deaths since the pandemic began. The true death toll, however, is likely much higher, experts say, as the country battles a continued surge in cases that has left hospitals and health workers overwhelmed.

The big picture: India has yet to enter a national lockdown as it did in March 2020 when it had fewer than 1,000 confirmed cases.

  • However, pressure is mounting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government to implement a nationwide shutdown, according to AP.

Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, two states in southern India, implemented stricter coronavirus restriction measures on Friday amid surges in new cases, Reuters reported.

  • Tamil Nadu said it would enter a full lockdown on Monday that would entail shutting public transport and state-run alcohol retailers, while Karnataka extended its total shutdown on Friday.
  • Bengaluru, the capital city of Karnataka, has the highest active caseload of any city in the country at more than 300,000, and hospitals there are struggling with oxygen shortages and crowded crematoriums, according to AP.
  • Tamil Nadu decided to enter a full lockdown after it reported a daily record of more than 26,000 new cases.

Go deeper:Foreign aid pours into India as COVID-19 crisis worsens

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.