The 354,531 new confirmed cases rose India’s total to 17,306,300, second only to the United States.

Due to a shortage of hospital capacity, crowds have formed outside hospitals in many cities.

India has been grappling with the shortage in oxygen supply as the deadly second wave has caught an already weak public health system unaware and unable to cope.

On the other hand, there are severe shortages of the drug Remdesvir in the country amid a huge surge in coronavirus cases.

Some COVID-19 patients even relied on the black market to purchase the anti-viral drug. In view of these shortages, the government banned exports of the drug to other countries

The health ministry reported another 2,767 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing India’s death toll to 192,311.

The country’s coronavirus death toll could be undercounted because there was a big gap between official death figures and the sudden increase in the number of bodies being cremated and buried.

Several crematoria that had been in disuse earlier were brought back into operation to keep up with the demand. (ILKHA)