The southern state of Karnataka, home to the tech city of Bengaluru, ordered a lockdown from Tuesday, joining the western industrial state of Maharashtra, where lockdowns run until May 1, although some states were set to lift the measures this week.
But the patchy curbs, complicated by local elections and mass festival gatherings, could prompt breakouts elsewhere, as infections rose by 352,991 in the last 24 hours, with crowded hospitals running out of oxygen supplies and beds. “Currently the hospital is in beg-and-borrow mode and it is an extreme crisis situation,” said a spokesman for the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the capital, New Delhi.
In some of the worst-hit cities, such as New Delhi, bodies were being burnt in makeshift facilities offering mass services. Television channel NDTV broadcast images of three health workers in the eastern state of Bihar pulling a body along the ground on its way to cremation, as stretchers ran short. — Reuters
A COVID-19 patient receives oxygen inside a car in Delhi, India, April 25, 2021. The New York Times
New bodies arrive at a mass cremation site in Delhi, India, April 23, 2021. Biden administration officials are coming under increasing pressure to lift restrictions on exports of supplies that vaccine makers in India say they need to expand production amid a devastating surge in COVID-19 deaths there. The New York Times
A health worker performs a COVID-19 test in Mumbai, India, April 17, 2021. India’s coronavirus second wave is rapidly sliding into a devastating crisis, with hospitals unbearably full, oxygen supplies running low, desperate people dying in line waiting to see doctors — and mounting evidence that the actual death toll is far higher than officially reported. The New York Times
A coronavirus victim’s body is buried at a cemetery in Delhi, India, April 23, 2021. India’s coronavirus second wave is rapidly sliding into a devastating crisis, with hospitals unbearably full, oxygen supplies running low, desperate people dying in line waiting to see doctors — and mounting evidence that the actual death toll is far higher than officially reported. The New York Times
Distraught women outside a hospital where coronavirus cases and deaths are increasing, in Delhi, India, April 23, 2021. India’s coronavirus second wave is rapidly sliding into a devastating crisis, with hospitals unbearably full, oxygen supplies running low, desperate people dying in line waiting to see doctors — and mounting evidence that the actual death toll is far higher than officially reported. The New York Times
People fill a market in the Dharavi area of Mumbai, India, on Monday, April 12, 2021.
Anil Kumar with his 10-year-old son, Akshay, at home in the Palam neighbourhood in Delhi, India, on March 31, 2021. Kumar lost his job as a civil engineer during last year’s lockdown. The New York Times
A roadway is lightly traveled in Mumbai, India on Thursday, April 15, 2021, the first day of another lockdown due to the coronavirus. The New York Times
Migrant workers and their families in a crowded train in Mumbai on May 20, 2020. It has become clear that special trains operated by the government to ease suffering — and to counteract a disastrous lack of lockdown planning — instead played a significant role in spreading the coronavirus into almost every corner of the country. The New York Times
A woman is consoled by her relative after her husband died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outside a COVID-19 hospital in Ahmedabad, India, Apr 26, 2021. REUTERS
A patient wearing an oxygen mask is wheeled inside a COVID-19 hospital for treatment, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ahmedabad, India, Apr 26, 2021. REUTERS
Workers build new platforms to cremate bodies outside a crematorium, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New Delhi, India, Apr 26, 2021. REUTERS
Relatives react as a healthcare worker pulls a stretcher carrying the body of a person, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a mortuary, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ahmedabad, India, Apr 26, 2021. REUTERS
A patient wearing an oxygen mask looks on as his wife holds a battery-operated fan while waiting inside an auto-rickshaw to enter a COVID-19 hospital for treatment, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ahmedabad, India, Apr 25, 2021. REUTERS
People carry oxygen cylinders after refilling them in a factory, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Ahmedabad, India, Apr 25, 2021. REUTERS
An oxygen tank is loaded into an aircraft to supply hospitals in India running out of supplies amid coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, at the tarmac of Changi Airport in Singapore Apr 24, 2021 in this still image taken from video recorded on April 24, 2021. REUTERS
A man with a breathing problem receives oxygen support for free inside his car at a Gurudwara (Sikh temple), amidst the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Ghaziabad, India, Apr 24, 2021. REUTERS
A family member wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) stands next to a body of a woman, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), before her cremation, at a crematorium in New Delhi, India Apr 24, 2021. REUTERS
A boy reacts next to the body of his father, who died from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a crematorium in New Delhi, India Apr 24, 2021. REUTERS
