India breaks world record for most infections

Another 2,104 people lost their lives on the same day, taking the official death toll to 184,657 fatalities. The total number of official infections now stands at 15.93 million.

India is currently in the midst of a lethal wave of the novel coronavirus, driven in part by a new variant discovered in the country, thought to be more contagious by experts. Oxygen has run low in most hospitals while ICU beds and ventilators are unavailable.

In footage posted again and again on social media, ambulances can be seen stretched out in lines outside health care facilities, waiting for an empty bed to offload their patients. Many victims are dying before receiving medical care.

Crematoriums and graveyards are fast running out of space, with some furnaces reportedly melting due to non-stop usage.

India’s vaccination drive has managed to inoculate only a tiny fraction of its population. Although the Narendra Modi led government has announced that everyone over the age of 18 will be eligible for vaccination from May 1, experts fear that the country may not have enough shots.

For the moment, the government has banned the export of vaccines, putting in jeopardy the inoculation drives in many third-world countries that were relying on procurement from India.

The surge has finally seen a downtick in Modi’s popularity, with social media posts asking why the government allowed matters to reach this point. Amidst a chorus of cries for help in arranging beds, oxygen or medicine, Indian Twitter has been flooded with criticism on the Prime Minister and his government. Especially under fire is the BJP-led Maharashtra government where the virus first ran rampant.

Modi, however, seems impervious to criticism, as his party arranges four massive rallies in the coming days even as his country battles what healthcare experts have labelled, “a nightmare”.