Daily Times

India’s count of daily deaths from coronavirus rose to a record-breaking figure of 3,780 in the last 24 hours, a day after India become the only country after the US to cross the 20 million infections mark.

According to the Indian health ministry the number of daily infections rose to 382,315 on Wednesday. Government modelling had pointed to a peak by Wednesday, a few days earlier than thought, since the virus has spread faster than expected.

The surge of the highly infectious Indian variant of the coronavirus has seen hospitals runs out of beds and oxygen and left morgues and crematoriums overflowing. Many people have died in ambulances and car parks waiting for a bed or oxygen.

Two “oxygen express” trains reached the capital Delhi on Wednesday carrying desperately needed liquid oxygen, Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal said on Twitter. Over 25 trains have so far delivered oxygen to different parts of India.

India’s government claims that there are enough oxygen supplies but transportation issues have been affecting the distribution.

India’s surge in infections has coincided with a dramatic drop in vaccinations due to supply and delivery problems.

At least three states, including Maharashtra, home to the commercial capital of Mumbai, have reported a scarcity of vaccines, shutting down some inoculation centres.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave of the virus. Religious festivals and political rallies have attracted tens of thousands of people in super spreader events.

Earlier, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was suspended a day after multiple people who were inside the bio-secure bubble, tested positive for COVID. The news was confirmed by the IPL chairman Brijesh Patel.

The media release from the IPL media team stated that “The Indian Premier League Governing Council (IPL GC) and Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in an emergency meeting has unanimously decided to postpone IPL 2021 season, with immediate effect.”