This archive report was first published on 7 May 2021.
India's Covid-19 crisis has taken a devastating turn, with the country recording a record 3,980 deaths and 412,262 new cases in the past 24 hours.
According to the health ministry, the national total of Covid-19 deaths has now reached 230,168, while the caseload since the pandemic began has surpassed 21.1 million.
Many experts suspect that the real numbers could be significantly higher due to low levels of testing and poor record-keeping for cause of death.
India's hospitals have been overwhelmed, with fatal shortages of beds, drugs, and oxygen reported in many places.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has resisted imposing a new lockdown, despite several regions imposing local shutdowns.
Other states, including West Bengal, Kerala, and Karnataka, are now reporting sharp rises in cases, with the Indian government's principal scientific advisor warning of another wave of infections.
"Phase 3 is inevitable given the high levels of circulating virus. But it is not clear on what timescale this phase 3 will occur. We should prepare for new waves," K. Vijay Raghavan said.
India will need more oxygen from other countries to fight the surge until numbers stabilise, with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies calling for "urgent" international action to prevent a worsening human catastrophe across South Asia.
