BENGALURU (REUTERS) – India on Friday reported a record daily rise in coronavirus cases of 414,188, while deaths from Covid-19 swelled by 3,915, according to health ministry data.

India’s total coronavirus infections now stands at 21.49 million, while its total fatalities have reached 234,083. The South Asian nation has added 1.57 million cases and nearly 15,100 deaths this week alone.

Citizens across the country, the world’s second-most populous, are struggling to find beds, oxygen or medicines, and many are dying due to a lack of treatment.

With hospitals scrabbling for beds and oxygen in response to the surge in infections, the World Health Organisation said in a weekly report that India accounted for nearly half the coronavirus cases reported worldwide last week and a quarter of the deaths.

Medical experts say India’s actual figures could be five to 10 times the official tallies.  

India’s Covid-19 crisis has been most acute in the capital, New Delhi, among other cities, but in rural areas – home to nearly 70 per cent of India’s 1.3 billion people – limited public healthcare is posing more challenges. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave, after religious festivals and political rallies drew tens of thousands of people in recent weeks and became “super spreader” events. 

The surge in infections has also coincided with a dramatic drop in vaccinations because of supply and delivery problems, despite India being a major vaccine producer. 

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