3 days nearly one million infected India was swamped by the epidemic death confirmed double broke the single-day record

India is drowning in a coronavirus epidemic, announcing on April 24 that the past 24 hours broke the record for deaths from coronavirus (Covid-19) in a single day, hospitals are being overwhelmed by hundreds of thousands of new patients, oxygen is running out, and the government and military are struggling to provide oxygen to hospitals.

In the past 24 hours, India has seen 2,624 deaths from the infection in a single day and more than 340,000 confirmed cases in a single day. Both are record-breaking.

Hospitals in the country’s major cities are under pressure from large numbers of patients, and waiting lines for patients and anxious relatives are lengthening, with nearly 1 million new cases registered in three days. The government has been criticized for not being prepared for the new wave of coronavirus before it arrived.

The Indian Air Force is deployed to deliver oxygen and other supplies to the country. The central government set up special trains to deliver oxygen to the worst affected cities and urged industry to speed up production of oxygen and medicines.

An “oxygen express” carrying 30,000 liters of oxygen arrived in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, early Saturday. The truck carrying the precious cargo was escorted by armed police to the hospital. Lucknow is one of the worst affected cities, with local hospitals and crematoriums already overwhelmed.

The situation is also serious in New Delhi, where hospitals are calling for help every day as oxygen supplies run out. Many patients are dying outside hospitals due to lack of beds and oxygen.

One charity has even set up a makeshift crematorium in a parking lot to cope with the large number of deaths.

India is approaching 190,000 officially reported deaths from infection since the outbreak. The number of infected people has reached 16.5 million, second only to the United States.

Experts believe the actual number could be higher and blame the new outbreak on a “double mutation” of the virus and mass events, such as the religious festival of Khumb Mela, which brings together millions of pilgrims.