Editor’s note: Images used in this story depict mass cremations and may be difficult for readers to look through.
COVID-19 cases are growing exponentially in India. As this new wave sweeps the nation of more than 1 billion, hospitals are running out of oxygen tanks and room to house patients.
And the COVID-19 death count keeps climbing, to the point where authorities are holding mass cremations.
India recorded 379,308 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That same day, 3,645 COVID-related deaths were also recorded.
India now holds the second-highest COVID-19 case count in the world — more than 18 million — since the pandemic started, with the U.S. in the top spot with more than 32 million confirmed cases since last year.
Top: A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, Sikh place of worship, inside a car in New Delhi, India, Saturday, April 24, 2021. India’s medical oxygen shortage has become so dire that this gurdwara began offering free breathing sessions with shared tanks to COVID-19 patients waiting for a hospital bed. | Bottom: People line up to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India on Tuesday.
Left: A patient breathes with the help of oxygen provided by a Gurdwara, Sikh place of worship, inside a car in New Delhi, India, Saturday, April 24, 2021. India’s medical oxygen shortage has become so dire that this gurdwara began offering free breathing sessions with shared tanks to COVID-19 patients waiting for a hospital bed. | Right: People line up to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India on Tuesday.
Altaf Qadri, AP | PUNIT PARANJPE, AFP via Getty Images
Top: A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 is consoled by another during cremation in Jammu, India, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Delhi has been cremating so many bodies of coronavirus victims that authorities are getting requests to start cutting down trees in city parks, as a second record surge has brought India’s tattered healthcare system to its knees. | Bottom: A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 reacts at a crematorium in Jammu, India, on April 25, 2021.
Left: A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 is consoled by another during cremation in Jammu, India, Sunday, April 25, 2021. Delhi has been cremating so many bodies of coronavirus victims that authorities are getting requests to start cutting down trees in city parks, as a second record surge has brought India’s tattered healthcare system to its knees. | Right: A relative of a person who died of COVID-19 reacts at a crematorium in Jammu, India, on April 25, 2021.
Channi Anand, AP
Top: Relatives arrive with a COVID-19 patient at a dedicated coronavirus government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, on April 27, 2021. Cases in India are surging faster than anywhere else in the world. | Bottom: Health workers wearing personal protective equipment attend to COVID-19 patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a covid care center in New Delhi, India on Wednesday.
Left: Relatives arrive with a COVID-19 patient at a dedicated coronavirus government hospital in Ahmedabad, India, on April 27, 2021. Cases in India are surging faster than anywhere else in the world. | Right: Health workers wearing personal protective equipment attend to COVID-19 patients inside a banquet hall temporarily converted into a covid care center in New Delhi, India on Wednesday.
Ajit Solanki, AP | PRAKASH SINGH, AFP via Getty Images
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