India’s coronavirus death toll has passed 200,000 as the country reels from a devastating surge in infections.
The country is in crisis as victims’ bodies are burned in mass cremations in desperation, and families resort to queuing for short supplies of oxygen in heartbreaking bids to save their loved ones.
On Wednesday, India recorded its deadliest day of the pandemic yet, as shortages of oxygen, medical supplies and hospital staff left its population vulnerable to a record number of new infections.
Ambulances linedfor hours in the capital, New Delhi, to take victims to makeshift crematorium facilities in parks and parking lots, where bodies burned on rows of funeral pyres.
And coronavirus sufferers, many struggling for breath, are being forced to seek help to save their own lives – flocking to a Sikh temple on the city’s outskirts in hopes of securing limited supplies of oxygen.
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Governments around the world in a position to ease their own lockdowns as vaccine rollouts curb the virus are being urged to help India, as its health system becomes overwhelmed at a critical late stage of the pandemic.
The second wave of infections has seen at least 300,000 people test positive each day for the past week.
The crisis is overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums and driving an increasingly urgent international response.
The last 24 hours brought 360,960 new cases for the world’s largest single-day total, taking India’s tally of infections to nearly 18million.
It was also the deadliest day so far, with 3,293 fatalities carrying the toll to 201,187.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said people were falling sick more severely and for longer, stacking up the pressure.
(Image: Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto/REX/Shutterstock)
“The current wave is particularly dangerous,” he said. “It is supremely contagious and those who are contracting it are not able to recover as swiftly. In these conditions, intensive care wards are in great demand.”
However experts believe India’s official tally vastly underestimates the actual toll in a nation with a population of 1.3 billion.
India has been added to travel ban lists around the world, as authorities fear the new and highly infectious variant ripping through the country could pose a fresh threat across the globe.
Boris Johnson’s government added India to the UK’s ‘red list’ last Friday, heavily limiting travel from the country.
(Image: Amarjeet Kumar Singh/SOPA Images/REX/Shutterstock)
The UK’s first aid shipment of 200 pieces of medical equipment of ventilators and oxygen equipment landed in Delhi this week.
But Indian officials are hoping for a flood of supplies, including vaccines to speed its rollout.
A Downing Street spokesman said on Tuesday that Britain would not be sending vaccine doses to India imminently.
“We are moving through the UK prioritisation list for our domestic rollout and we don’t have surplus doses, but we will keep this under review”, the spokesman for the PM said.
(Image: NurPhoto/PA Images)
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday he had spoken at length with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues such as when the United States would be able to ship vaccines to the nation, telling reporters it was his clear intention to do so.
Mr Modi is facing mounting anger in India over his administration’s handling of the outbreak of the pandemic.
The Indian PM has been criticised for continuing to address tens of thousands of people at state election rallies as infection rates surged, and for letting Hindu devotees gather for a festival despite the growing crisis.
The world is entering a critical phase of the pandemic and needs to have vaccinations available for all adults as soon as possible, Udaya Regmi, South Asia head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said.
“This is both an ethical and public health imperative,” he added. “As variants keep spreading, this pandemic is far from over until the whole world is safe.”
