Coronavirus deaths in India have passed the 200,000 mark, with cremations taking place around the clock in some regions. US President Joe Biden said additional vaccines would be shipped to the country.

• India has logged a global daily record of 362,567 new infections
• The country’s total COVID-19 death toll has crossed 200,000
• India ranks second in the world after the US for the total number of cases
• Its fatality count is fourth behind the US, Brazil and Mexico
• Several countries have pledged aid, including Germany, France, the EU, Britain, the US, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan
• Coronavirus cases are surging in India, with the South Asian country reporting a global record of 362,567 new infections on Wednesday and the death toll crossing 200,000.

Indian officials said 3,293 people died in the past 24 hours, the first time the country saw over 3,000 fatalities in one day.

India has been logging global daily records of over 300,000 cases for the last seven days.

While the numbers are staggering, experts and epidemiological modelers believe that the real number of COVID cases and fatalities could be much higher.
Hospitals, meanwhile, are being stretched to breaking point with people dying outside their doors or at home due to a lack of beds, drugs and medical oxygen.

Crematoriums are working overtime, their chimneys cracking and iron frames melting from constant use. Wood is reportedly in short supply in places and some families are told to bring their own to burn.

What’s driving the surge?
Shuchin Bajaj, the co-founder and director of the Indian Ujala Cygnus hospital chain, told DW the situation in India is “worse than you can imagine.”

“I get more than 500 calls a day from people asking for beds, asking for oxygen and asking for help,” Bajaj said. India faces a widespread shortage of oxygen and vital medical supplies, exacerbating the crisis.

Bajaj said multiple factors are driving the explosion of infections in India.

“I think the sheer size of the population and the fact there are big metropolitan cities, congested areas, and the virus has mutated,” he explained. “We are seeing double mutant viruses, triple mutant viruses as well now. The UK variant is hugely prevalent in the northern part of the country. So a mix of all these factors, I think, is leading to this inferno that’s engulfing everything in its path.”
Tarik Jasarevic, spokesman for the World Health Organization, told DW that a new variant discovered in India could be behind higher transmission rates: “It seems that this [Indian] variant has the capacity and potential to attach to human cells more easily. That would obviously mean more people being infected and that would lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths.”

He stressed that: “what we need to do now is really try to contain this transmission as much as possible through making sure that people who are sick follow their advice, do not necessarily go to hospital, but take care at home when possible, try to isolate there.”

People’s laxity and poor adherence to COVID-related precautionary measures have also contributed to the rapid spread of the virus, say experts.

Biden promises additional vaccines
Western countries are rushing to provide India with the vital supplies it needs to tackle the crisis.

US President Joe Biden said Tuesday the US would soon send vaccine shipments to India, after he spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He also said the US is sending mechanical parts needed for the machinery India has to build a vaccine.
“I think we’ll be in a position to be able to share vaccines as well as know-how with other countries that are in need. That is the hope and expectation,” Biden said. The US president did not indicate when the vaccines would be shipped to India.

The White House had previously announced Monday that the US would share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine with the rest of the world.

First Western aid arrives
Crates of ventilators and oxygen concentrators from the UK arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday, the first shipment of Western aid to have reached India.

In addition to the US and UK, Germany, France and the European Union have pledged support to India to better handle the crisis.

“We need really to stand with India now and try to help as much as we can,” WHO spokesman Jasarevic said, adding: “We have not seen [a case explosion] in any other country on this scale.”
Omid Nouripour, a German member of parliament and the deputy head of the German-Indian Parliamentary Friendship Group, said Germany must express solidarity with India.

“It’s our duty to help our friends and India is our friend,” Nouripour told DW. At the same time, he said “it’s highly important the Indian government also ensures that superspreader events just stop.”

Modi’s government has been criticized for allowing Hindu festivals and election rallies to take place in recent weeks, which are believed to have contributed to the spike in cases.