Munawar Zaman


Press TV, New Delhi

This is the funeral of a 59-year-old woman and only her close relatives are performing the last rites. Her family says she didn’t die of the coronavirus but due to lack of space in the hospital. She was suffering from kidney ailment.

The second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic has brought the country’s healthcare to the brink of collapse as hospitals struggle with lack of resources and space. The country is battling with a lack of oxygen supplies and space to cremate the dead.

Just a mile away from the crematorium, a truck loaded with oxygen cylinders is preparing a delivery to some nearby hospitals with police protection as oxygen tankers and cylinders are being looted in some parts of the country.

This truck loader says we are working 24/7 to deliver as much as we can. So are ambulance drivers.

On Thursday, India reported over 315,000 new cases of the coronavirus disease, the highest daily increase the country has recorded so far since the pandemic.

Over 2,100 deaths were also reported across the country, with the states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh being the worst affected.

The country has recorded 15 million cases so far and more than 184,000 deaths based on health ministry data. Health experts say the unprecedented second wave could be blamed on a double mutant variant and recent religious gatherings and election campaigns.