India has reported a record number of coronavirus cases for the fifth day in a row, with a second wave pushing its health-care system to the brink.
There were some 352,991 new cases of Covid-19 reported in the last 24 hours, seeing India’s total number of infections top 17 million, with 5 million cases counted in April alone. At least 2,182 people have died from the virus in the last 24 hours, taking the South Asian nation’s death toll to over 195,000, though media reports indicate the official figure is being understated.
Before the second wave, India was reporting an average of around 10,000 new cases a day. Its government has been criticized for allowing religious festivals and election rallies to go ahead this year.
India’s hospitals have run out of beds and are suffering an extreme shortage of oxygen to treat patients.
