Covid-19: India Hits Global Record of 315,000 New Infections for One Day

India marked a new milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting 314,835 new daily cases, the highest one-day tally anywhere, as its second wave and similar surges elsewhere raised new fears about the ability of health services to cope.

Hospitals across northern and western India including the capital, New Delhi, have issued notices to say they have only a few hours of medical oxygen required to keep COVID-19 patients alive.

In Maharashtra state in western India, at least 24 COVID-19 patients died on Wednesday when the oxygen supply to their ventilators ran out due to a leak.

The unprecedented spread of the virus, blamed on a more contagious strain as well as lax safety measures, has overwhelmed hospitals, creating severe shortages of beds, oxygen and medicines in major cities. Social media is flooded with desperate pleas from people whose relatives are sick but have been repeatedly turned away from hospitals.

A total of 2,104 deaths were registered on Wednesday, a record high for India. More than 1 million cases have ben recorded in the past four days.