India has reported a record number of coronavirus cases for the fifth consecutive year, with a second wave marginalizing its healthcare system.
Around 352,991 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours, with India’s total number of infections exceeding 17 million, with 5 million cases counted in April alone. At least 2,182 people have died from the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the South Asian nation’s death toll to over 195,000, although media reports suggest the official number is underestimated.
Before the second wave, India reported an average of around 10,000 new cases per day. The government has been criticized for allowing religious festivals and election campaigns to take place this year.
India’s hospitals are running out of beds and suffering from an extreme lack of oxygen when treating patients.
A patient sits in an ambulance waiting to be admitted to a Covid hospital for treatment
A patient with breathing problems is seen in an ambulance waiting to be admitted to a COVID-19 hospital for treatment while coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads in Ahmedabad, India on April 20, 2021.
Amit Dave | Reuters
A man runs past the burning pyre of those who died from Covid
A man runs past the burning pyre of those who have died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a mass cremation at a crematorium in New Delhi, India on April 26, 2021.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
A man prepares a pyre to burn a body
A man prepares a pyre to cremate the body of a person who has died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a crematorium in New Delhi, India on April 22, 2021.
Danish Siddiqui | Reuters
The medical staff takes care of one person in a nursing home
Medical staff in PSA caring for a person at the Covid-19 Temporary Care Center attached to LNJP Hospital at Shehnai Banquet Hall on April 23, 2021 in New Delhi, India.
Raj K Raj | Hindustan Times | Getty Images
A man in an outfit resembling the Covid virus moves around a marketplace asking people to follow safety protocols
A man from a non-governmental organization (NGO), wearing an outfit similar to the Covid-19 coronavirus, moves in a marketplace and asks people to follow the safety protocols during an awareness campaign on April 25, 2021 in Siliguri.
Diptendu Dutta | AFP | Getty Images
A worker disinfects nozzles on oxygen cylinders when they are refilled in a factory
A worker disinfects nozzles from oxygen cylinders as they are refilled in a factory while coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spreads in Ahmedabad, India on April 25, 2021.
Amit Dave | Reuters
Umar Farooq mourns the body of his mother, who died of Covid before she was buried in a cemetery in Srinagar
Umar Farooq mourns the body of his mother, who died of Covid-19 coronavirus, before she was buried in a cemetery in Srinagar on April 26, 2021.
Frozen meat Mustafa | AFP | Getty Images
People are waiting to cremate those who have died in New Delhi due to the coronavirus
People are waiting to cremate victims who have died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in a crematorium in New Delhi, India on April 23, 2021.
Danish Siddiqui | Reuters
A doctor tends to a patient’s breathing problem in an ambulance while she waits to enter a hospital in Covid
A doctor tends to a patient with breathing problems in an ambulance waiting to be admitted to a COVID-19 hospital for treatment while the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is on April 25, 2021 in Ahmedabad, India , spreads.
Amit Dave | Reuters
People wearing protective face masks wait for a vaccine in Mumbai
People wearing face masks wait to receive a vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India, on April 26, 2021.
Niharika Kulkarni | Reuters
People cremate the bodies of coronavirus victims in a crematorium in New Delhi
People cremate the bodies of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) victims in a crematorium in New Delhi, India on April 24, 2021.
Danish Siddiqui | Reuters
Rickshaw drivers hold oxygen bottles in front of a private gas station
Rickshaw drivers hold oxygen bottles in front of a private gas station during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak on April 19, 2021 in New Delhi, India.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, in an auto rickshaw
A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a gurdwara, a place of worship for Sikhs, in an auto rickshaw that was held under a roadside tent on April 26, 2021 in Ghaziabad amid a Covid-19 coronavirus Pandemic is parked.
Sajjad Hussain | AFP | Getty Images
A woman is comforted after her husband dies
A woman is comforted after her husband died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside a morgue of a COVID-19 hospital in Ahmedabad, India on April 20, 2021.
Amit Dave | Reuters
A man with wood walks past the pyre of those who died of coronavirus disease
A man carrying wood walks past the pyre of those who have died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a mass cremation at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, April 26, 2021.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
A man with personal protective equipment stands next to the pyre
A man wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) stands next to the pyre of those who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a mass burn in a crematorium in New Delhi, India, on April 26, 2021.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
A view of several pyres in the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium in New Delhi
A view of several pyrenees from Covid-19 victims in the Nigambodh Ghat crematorium on April 23, 2021 in New Delhi, India.
Sanjeev Verma | Hindustan Times | Getty Images
Health workers carry bodies of victims
Health workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry bodies of people suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in front of Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in New Delhi, India on April 24, 2021.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
Relatives carry a man’s body during his funeral in New Delhi
Relatives carry the body of a man who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during his funeral in a cemetery in New Delhi, India, on April 23, 2021.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
Family members sit next to the burning pyre of coronavirus victims in New Delhi
Family members sit next to the burning pyre of those who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) during a mass cremation in a crematorium in New Delhi, India, on April 26, 2021.
Adnan Abidi | Reuters
