The Indian Ministry of Health today said that the country recorded 314,835 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, higher than any country since the pandemic broke out, bringing the total number of infections to 15.9 million and

India fell into an unprecedented tragedy.

However, the rate of Covid-19 infections and deaths per capita in India is significantly lower than in many other countries because it is the second most populous country in the world.

Major public and private hospitals in New Delhi have sent an urgent appeal to the central government, calling for immediate oxygen supply to hundreds of patients on ventilator support.

Relatives wearing protective gear attended the cremation ceremony of a man who died of Covid-19 in New Delhi, India on April 21.

The haunting shrill sounds of emergency vehicle sirens continuously rang throughout the capital.

Patients without beds lay gasping for breath on stretchers and ambulances, next to crying relatives.

The New Delhi government, run by a different party than Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, accused neighboring states run by Modi’s party of withholding supplies.

`We cannot let people die from lack of oxygen. You can beg, borrow or steal, but you must provide,` the judges said, questioning why the government `did not wake up first.`

India has seen mass gatherings in recent months, including millions at religious festivals bathing in the Ganges River, political protests, lavish weddings and cricket matches open to spectators, leading to protests.

The destitute relatives of patients are being forced to pay exorbitant prices on the black market to buy medicine and oxygen.

States across India have imposed restrictions.

`The entire medical care system has collapsed and doctors are exhausted,` said Dr. Jalil Parkar of Lilavati Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra state.

A Covid-19 patient wearing an oxygen mask was transferred to a hospital in Ahmedabad city, Gujarat state, India for treatment on April 21.

States such as Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh have been accused of concealing the true death toll from Covid-19, with the number of bodies piling up in hospital morgues now much higher than published death figures.

Dr. Amit Thadhani, director of Niramaya hospital in Mumbai, which only treats Covid patients, said he warned of an extremely dangerous second outbreak in February, but was ignored.

Thadhani said this time the virus is `more dangerous and much more contagious`, mainly affecting young people.

`Now people in their 20s and 30s are suffering from very severe symptoms and the death rate among young people is also high,` he said.

The US currently advises citizens, including those who have been fully vaccinated, not to go to India, while the UK has added India to its `red list`, Hong Kong and New Zealand have banned flights to this South Asian country.

India’s vaccination program also encountered supply problems, forcing New Delhi to stop exporting the domestically produced AstraZeneca vaccine.

`Leaders across the country have not adequately communicated that the epidemic has not gone away,` said K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.